Real Boy
by AcaciaDawn105
Summary: Lorra was hired by Walter Robotics as sort of a PR manager/minor mechanic for the Steam Powered Giraffe band members. When her presence brings along some serious bad mojo down on The Spine, she's the only one who can help him make it through. Serious story here folks, more chapters on the way!
1. Chapter 1

_**Real Boy**_

 _ **Chapter One~ The Tech**_

 _Year: 2016_

The crowd went wild. They always did. Everyone loved the bots, the automatons originally built way back in 1896 for this very purpose. To bring music and joy to humans. Personally, Lorra didn't understand why people _needed_ artificial intelligence to create music. It wasn't like there was any shortage of singers and wanna-be musicians. Of course, that didn't mean she didn't enjoy the band. On the contrary, Steam Powered Giraffe was one of her all time favorite groups. So you can imagine her surprise when she had been asked to join Walter Robotics as one of their techs. No, she didn't work with the bots inner workings, though she was extremely interested in what made them tick, that was the Walter Workers' Chelsea and Camille's job. Lorra actually worked with the outward appearance of the band. From their personalities and wardrobe, to the music their picked and played, she was probably the only person who hung out with them more than they hung out with each other.

They had just finished up with the song 'Honeybee', and were taking their final bows. Lorra stood in the wing, clapping along with the audience.

Then out of nowhere, Rabbit called out, "Don't forget to check out our new album, so-so-soft fleshy humans!"

Lorra's hand came up to meet her face, shaking her head as Rabbit's metal appendage waved at the crowd and the band made their way off-stage. With a grimace, she straightened her hair, shoved her clipboard under her arm and clapped to the bots that were walking toward her. "Great show, guys, really wonderful. Just one thing. Come here, bring it in." She waved them over. Once they were close enough, she put a hand on the female automaton's shoulder. "Rabbit, what did we say about making semi-killer bot remarks?"

"Don't freak-k-k out the humans?" She shrugged. Lorra nodded.

"Exactly. Look, I know what you guys are. Those people out there don't. They have no idea that your AI isn't going to turn you into crazy, human-killing machines bent on world domination. So, sweetie," she smirked at the closest thing to a girl-friend that she had, "No more dark remarks, please?" They all just looked at her, like she was a bit insane herself. And maybe she was, calling a robot her girl-friend. "Ok, fine. If you can't do that, then at least limit it to little jokes."

"We can do that, boss!" Hatchworth gave her a cheery thumbs-up.

"Thank you. And I'm not the boss, Hatchy. I'm just a worker." Lorra told him with a grin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw The Spine giving her an odd look. "What?" She laughed. "What's that face for?"

"You don't exactly look like a Walter Worker." To emphasize his point, his mechanical eyes moved up and down her body.

True enough, she didn't. The Walter Workers usually wore white and black Victorian style uniforms with striped socks and boots. Instead of that, Lorra wore her typical jeans and tennis shoes with some old, comfortable t-shirt and flannel shirt over it with the sleeves rolled up. Her brown hair was pulled up in its usual ponytail, showing off her rectangle glasses and the multiple piercings in each ear. Waving her hand, nails painted black tonight, and rings flashing in the lowlights, she scoffed. "You wouldn't catch me dead in one of those horrible uniforms. That was my only condition when I started working with you guys. Come on, I think the Workers are wanting to make sure you're all oiled up before we set out for home." She wrapped an arm around Rabbit and Hatchworth, and marched them away with Spine trailing behind.

)0(

Unlike Chelsea and Camilla, who left as soon as the bots were home, Lorra was basically their live in...maid? Tutor? Person? She didn't really know what her official title was, nor really what she was actually supposed to do for the band. The boss-man had hired her without much explanation, other than "Take care of them." And just what were her qualifications to take care of three previously homicidal robots? A major psychology diploma that had been gathering dust in her apartment, a minor in robotics, and the experience of wrangling her multitude of baby cousins and half-siblings. Yep...she figured she was probably one of the least qualified people to deal with Steam Powered Giraffe. But, a job was a job, and she needed money because the bills don't pay themselves.

So, as such, here she was, sitting around the T.V. watching Bill Engvall when they got back to the house. Part of their programming made it so they could learn and understand humans better and better. This helped with writing music. Rabbit and Hatchworth would basically watch anything, especially when it was funny. Spine, on the other hand, was a bit more... _refined_. Or so he put it. If he watched anything, it was usually documentaries and the like. When he told her this, Lorra just rolled her eyes. She'd seen him, lurking around the corner and trying not to laugh too loudly to attract the attention of his housemates. For whatever reason, he felt like he needed to keep up his appearance of the more stoic, sane of the trio. Lorra didn't believe it for a moment. It had taken some finagling, but she had finally managed to make him sit down and watch the show with them. Despite the fact that she knew the bots didn't get tired and uncomfortable like she did, she felt a bit sorry for Spine not being able to lean back against the couch because of the rather ridiculous contraption on his back.

When the show was over, Lorra stood up and stretched. "Alrighty, folks. Time for bed." She clapped her hands at them, telling them to get moving. Her words were met with a duo of 'awww' from Rabbit and Hatchworth. "No, no 'aww'. I've been up since four this morning and haven't had a second to get a nap. I'm tired, and I am _not_ leaving you three to run free without me awake. Come on. Bed. Now." The two of them were dragging their feet into the hall. Spine was still sitting. "That means you, too."

"I'm not in need of recharging." He said, not moving from his spot. Lorra placed a hand on her hip and waved for him to stand up. When he did, she grabbed his arm and spun him around. "Hey!" He yelled, though not resisting. They both knew that if he wanted to, Spine could send her flying across the room.

"Hush." Lorra slipped a finger under the edge of his collar, lifted it, and raised on tip-toes to check his battery light. It was still pretty full. "You're good for now, but you are going to have to sleep...I mean rest, before morning comes." She told him, flopping back to her feet. "Whatever. I've gotta go get Bitty and Hatch plugged up. Do what you want. I trust you a _little_ bit more than I trust them. G'night, Spine."

"Goodnight, Lorra." He said cordially, tipping his hat to her.

She gave him her usual quirky smile, and made her way down the hall after the other two, humming some random song. Truly, Lorra loved her job. Sure the bots were a little on the nutty side, but at least she was never bored. Hatchworth's room was first. He was already removing his hat and placing it on the table beside his recharging station. As she entered his room, a growl came from beside the door, scaring her.

"Geez!" She said, one hand on her chest to attempt to still her pounding heart. "Seriously, Hatchy? What happened to 'no more badgers in the house'?" The creature continued to growl, but moved on to tear into a sandwich that had been left on the floor.

"Sorry," he responded, bashfully. "I'll get rid of him in the morning."

"Yeah, and I'll be cleaning up his crap in the morning while you do that." Lorra sighed. "Nevermind. It's fine. Just make sure you don't send him to some rich people's party again, ok?"

"You got it, boss!" He grinned.

"Bedtime." Plugging in his power cord, she pecked his hard, metal cheek. "Night, Hatch."

"Goooodnight." Then, his eyes closed and his body slumped down a bit, signaling that he was out for the night.

Rabbit was always a little harder to get to bed. She was a lot like a toddler, Lorra reasoned, whereas Hatchworth was a slightly older kid. That would make Spine the teenager, with his disregard for her telling him to rest, and going about his night, no doubt staying up until the wee hours of the morning.

"Bitty, seriously, you need to get over here and get plugged in!" She said, chasing the spastic bot around the room with the cord.

"But, Lo-ooooo-rra-aaaa!" She whined. "I don't w-w-wanna go to sleep."

"Well, tough titties. Get your robo-butt over here."

"Why does Spine get to s-s-s-stay up?"

"Because his battery is still half full. Yours, on the other hand, has turned red." Lorra told her, pointing to the mirror behind her. Rabbit spun her head 180 degrees to look at it without turning around. "That is so weird. Quit playing Exorcist, and come here." She waved the extension threatening.

Rabbit's faceplates fell into a pout, and she jerkily stepped towards her. In her clumsiness, her dragging foot caught on one of her many outfits laying around on the floor and she fell face first to the floor. The noise caused Lorra to flinched, the clang of metal on metal caused a ringing in her ears. "I'm ok." The bot scrambled to her feet, dramatically dusting herself off and continuing her journey to her recharging station.

"Do you need me to check your face real quick?" Lorra sighed.

"Please." Rabbit said quietly.

The human woman smiled at her gently, then pulled a toolkit out of her back pocket, unrolling it on the nightstand and picking out a small flathead screwdriver. "C'mere, sweetie." The females sat down on Rabbit's bed. Why a robot needed a bed, she didn't know, but maybe it was to give them a more human feel. Lorra fit the screwdriver into the bolts that held Rabbit's face plates and removed them to check the mechanations underneath. It was a bit unnerving to see teeth without lips, and the bot's eyes moving back and forth. "Lucky Spine didn't hear that crash."

"Yeah," her jaw moved. "I-I-I'd never live it down."

"You just need to be a little more careful. Maybe the Worker Girls can fix up some of your works and get you better balanced."

"Spine sa-sa-says I'm clumsy no matter w-w-what." She said sadly.

"Hey," Lorra poked her shoulder with the tool. "You ignore him. You know how he is. I personally think that he doesn't quite know what to do with himself now that you're a woman. My mom always told me that when boys teased and made fun of me, it was because they like me and don't know how to express it."

"I do-do-don't think that's the case here, Lor."

"Why? Because you're robots? You guys are more human that everyone thinks. I know that better than anyone. Ya never know, girlfriend. Anyway, nothing's messed up, so you're perfectly fine to _go to bed_." She said, waving the screwdriver threateningly."

"Fiiiiiiine!" The bot said, throwing her head back. Lorra put her face plates back and grabbed the cord before Rabbit could run away again. Without so much as a 'by your leave', she shoved the connecting pieces together and stood up to get her things while Rabbit laid down. "Lorra?"

"Yes, Bitty?" She asked, shoving the toolkit back in her pocket.

"I love you."

Lorra smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to Rabbit's cold forehead. "I love you, too, Rabbit. Get some sleep." She pulled the string on the lamp, and left the room. Standing in the doorway, she couldn't help but grin to herself.

"How's her face?" The voice beside her made her jump.

"Damn it! Spine, what the hell?!" The tall metal man was leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"I heard her fall down. Is she ok?"

"She's fine. It's my heart that's having issues right this minute. Christ," she put her hands on her knees, trying to breathe deep and calm her heart for the second time tonight. "What's with you and the sneaking? I mean, you're made of _metal_ for Christ's sake. You shouldn't be that quiet!"

Spine shrugged, a small quirk pulling his lips into a half-smile. "Or maybe you're just not that observant."

"I observe quite well, thank you very much." She shoved him playfully, making her way back towards her room. "Tons of cousins trying to sneak up on me for years made me really good at telling when people do that."

"Yeah, well," he threw an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not people. I'm a robot. And as such, I can regulate my footfall pressure to keep you from hearing me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you big goof. I thought you were going to watch T.V. some more."

"I was. But..."

She stopped outside her door. "What's up?"

If he wasn't made of titanium, surely, Spine would have been blushing. "There's an issue with one of the plates on my side. Hatchworth accidently hit it with the edge of his bass when we were switching sets. I didn't think it was worth troubling the Workers earlier, but it's becoming rather unbearable. I was hoping you could take a look at it before you went to sleep." He was shuffling his feet. The Spine was nervous about asking her for help. To be fair, she had never had to do any tinkering on him. Hatchworth occasionally needed a little upkeep on his hatch/portal, and Rabbit always wanted to try new hairstyles and such.

Lorra chuckled. "Sure thing, darlin'. Come on it." She shook her head as she pushed open her door. When she had first moved in, this room had not had any kind of barrier to those who wanted to enter, but she had quickly ratified that. It didn't matter that three of her housemates were robots and didn't have any kind of sexual orientation, or that the master of the house was a key-faced hermit who rarely left his room, she still didn't like the idea of people being able to come in without announcing themselves first. Not that Rabbit or Hatchworth did anyway. Both bots had burst in on her in various stages of undress, the latter backing out and stumbling over himself, often with steam coming from his chimney.

Flicking on the light, she beckoned him in, and went to turn on the two lamps, one on her nightstand, the other in the corner of her room beside her bookcase and armchair. Lorra crossed to her dresser, fiddling with a device in her hand. It was her phone, which she plugged into her stereo. Spine stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, taking in the décor. In the last few months that she'd been living there, he had never actually been inside the human's room. The walls were adorned with posters of movies and bands, and some old family photos. Next to where she stood, was a large bookcase filled to the brim with books. In the other corner, was a workbench of sorts, with bits and pieces of metal. The computer desk was littered with post-it notes, little reminders for appointments, ideas for shows and costumes. Suddenly, the room was filled with the sounds of Journey 'Don't Stop Believing' coming from her little stereo. When he looked back to the woman, she was bobbing a little as she turned it down so that it was little more than background music. She saw him standing there, and chuckled, gesturing for him to sit on the bed.

"Alrighty, what seems to be the problem, bud?" Lorra asked him, pulling out her toolkit again. He just looked at her. "I know you already told me, but I need to see the plates to do anything."

"Oh," Spine said, moving to unbutton his waistcoat. Lorra helped him get it over the spines on his back, then did the same with his shirt. Immediately, she saw damage, the place where one of his torso plates was overlapping the other. She knelt down next to him, pushing his arm up so she could inspect it more closely.

"Hmm. You took a pretty hard hit there, hun. Any damage to Hatchy's bass?" Lorra asked as she started poking the spot.

"Probably." He smirked. "Think you can fix it?"

"Sure. But, I'm gonna have to take the whole thing off and beat it back into shape." She told him as she started picking out the tools she needed to release it. "This might tickle a bit."

"Physically impossible, considering that I wasn't built with those kind of touch receptors. Walter wanted me to be more human than the other two, but that didn't mean actually human."

"Right, because if he wanted to do that, all he had to do was go find a nice lady to have a little fun with and then name the product Spine." Lorra said dryly while she began prying the stubborn piece away.

"Your attempt at humor leaves something to be desired, Lorra."

"Shut up, it's better than some of the things Rabbit says. Damn it!" She yelped, yanking her hand back from the panel. A bead of blood dripped down the side of her index finger, having sliced the skin on the edge of plate. "Shit."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just a cut." Shoving the bleeding skin between her lips, she reached over him and rummaged through her nightstand for a band-aid. Once she found one, she dried the area of saliva and wrapped the band-aid around her finger. "There, see? All better. Now, let's get this stubborn thing off." After much cursing and pulling, she finally managed to free the piece, falling on her ass in the process. "About damn time." Spine offered her his hand, which she took, and helped her stand up.

As she crossed the room to the workbench, another song came on, which she was muttering along to as she bent and beat the plate back into it's original shape. _Pick a star on the dark horizon, and follow the light. You'll come back, when they call you. No need to say goodbye._ The instrumental part had her bobbing her head, and she continued to talk to herself. Spine watched her work from his spot on her bed. He liked the way she moved, without the hindrance of stiff metal joints and clockwork making her movements jerky and halting. Every move was smooth and...almost delicate. Her small fingers worked nimbly on the mechanics on the inside of the plate. She used a fingernail to scratch away some kind of grime or oil build-up, quickly flicking it away. Spine brought his own hand up to watch the way it moved, nowhere near as flowing as Lorra's, the pieces inside whirring and clicking when he made a fist and then uncurled it.

"Hey." His head shot up. Lorra was standing beside him, the repaired piece in one hand. "Are you ok?"

"Yes." He said hurriedly. "Yes, of course."

"Ok." She said with a friendly smile. "This should do. If not, you can always ask the Workers to fix it up better." Kneeling down again, she easily fit the metal plate back into place. "There. How does that feel?"

Spine stood up, bending and turning to test it. "Wonderful. I think it will do quite well. Thank you."

"No problem. Here, let me help you get your shirt back on." Once all his clothes were back in place, she led him to the door. "It something else like that happens, don't be afraid to come and ask me for help. That's what I'm here for, apparently. Now, I'm very tired, so goodnight for real this time, Spine." Just like with the other two, she reached up on her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek.

This had sort of become a tradition with the band, to get kisses from their resident human before they retired for the night, so it didn't bother him at all. "And to you as well." Then he was gone. Lorra shook her head and closed the door.

)0(

 _ **A/N: And there you have it, my dears. My first chapter of this story. My husband got me addicted to Steam Powered Giraffe, especially The Spine. It seems really strange to me that anyone should be attracted to a robot...but I can't help it. Something about a suave mofo with a deep, sultry voice is just...*shivers***_

 _ **Anyway, next chappie up soon, because this story kept me up all night yesterday and I got no sleep because I have a serious plotline in mind for it.**_

 _ **AcaciaDawn105**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two~ Visitor**_

 _ **A/N: Ok, so, just a reminder. Hatchy talks in a halting sort of speech, which is extremely hard to portray in writing, so use your imagination. Also, Rabbit not only stutters (or as I call it, glitches), but also has a way of talking that some of the words kind of trail off, if you get my meaning. Seriously, though, Spine is the most human of all of them, for a reason. If you don't know the lore, he's like that because he was a spy during the Elephant Wars, and that comes into play later.**_

 _ **Also, it's absolutely crazy to me how the make-up can change the goofy (yet still handsome) David into this suave, sexy dude that reels in the fangirls. Because, let's face it, we'd all do the Spine in a heartbeat.**_

 _ **Anyway, until then, enjoy, my dears.**_

)0(

Between shows in and around San Diego, and just the general upkeep of the band and house, Lorra often didn't get into bed until late into the night. And to top things off, she was _not_ a morning person. So, as per usual, when Rabbit had burst into her room, chattering about breakfast and some of the ideas she had for her next outfit, Lorra just sat there for a few minutes blinking at the female bot. Eventually, she hauled herself out of bed and followed the other woman into the kitchen. Hatchworth and Spine were already in there, the latter being the gentleman and making breakfast. Lorra sat down in the chair beside her friend and put her head on her arms.

"Oh, and I ha-ha-had this great idea for my hair. I drew a-a-a picture for you this morning. See? Do you think we-e-e could do something like that before the next show? I know it's only a couple days away, but I think we could make it." She continued to poke and prod until Lorra's face rose to look at her with narrowed eyes.

Spine came up in between them. "Rabbit, you know better than to bother our dear Lorra with serious matters first thing in the morning." He said with one hand on her back, setting a cup of black coffee in front of the human.

"Spine, darling, you are a freaking saint." She muttered, grabbing the sugar bowl and the carton of milk he also set on the counter. "I'll take a look at it in a little bit, Bitty, ok? Just...let me wake up first." Her hand rubbed her face, as if she could rub the sleep away.

Rabbit stuck her hands under her legs and hunched her shoulders. Sheepishly, she cocked her head and smiled, "Sorry."

"It's fine, sweetie. Just too much too early. My brain can't keep up first thing after I wake up. I'm not a robot, remember?" A plate was placed under her nose, pancakes and eggs with a side of bacon. "Mmm." She hummed, digging in. After the first taste, she threw Spine a thumbs up. Despite being a robot, the dude could seriously cook. Something in his programming gave him the ability to know the _perfect_ concoction of ingredients and cook time and so on. Usually, Lorra made her own breakfast; but, on mornings when he knew that she had been run ragged, he was nice enough to take the chore on himself. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but jeez, I swear you make better pancakes than my grandma."

The bot chuckled. "Your secret is safe with me," he said with a tip of his hat. "Probably less so with her." Spine pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Rabbit.

"H-h-hey!" She glitched.

" **Mizz Lorra.** " Came another voice, a screen coming from the ceiling with a bright green happy face on it.

"Hey, Qwerty. What's up?"

" **Speaking of grandma, roflmao, there's a lady at the door saying that she's yours. Should I give her a sombrero?** " He chirped happily.

Lorra sat stunned for a moment, then laughed. "No, Qwerty, don't give her a sombrero. But do go ahead and let her in."

" **Al-rrrighty then! Tacos it is!** "

Lorra chuckled, but then sat up with wide eyes. Remembering the first time she had come to the mansion and the malfunctioning bot had 'given' her tacos. "No, Qwerty, wait! No tacos! Don't do the tacos! Qwerty?!" There was no answer. "Crap." Knocking back the rest of her coffee, Lorra stood up and started to run out of the room, followed closely by the three bots.

"Lorra! Wait!" Spine called. She skidded to a stop in the middle of the hall, nearly causing the tall guitar player to crash into her.

"What?" She asked hurriedly. His luminous green eyes glanced down at her current clothing. She was still in her pjs, a baggy t-shirt that hung off her shoulder, and a pair of sleep shorts. She was barefoot and brown hair in a messy nest. She looked down at herself, then back at him, shrugging. "Grandma has seen me in _way_ less than this. The woman changed my diapers for Christ's sake." The woman took off again.

Rabbit looked at her brother, confused. "Why does she need diapers? I thought she had r-r-rather adequate control over her bowels."

Spine shook his head in exasperation. "She doesn't need them _now,_ Rabbit. She was saying that her grandmother took care of her when she was a baby. Come on," he waved them back into movement, rushing after their housemate. As they rounded the corner into the foyer, they heard her exclaiming over something, then saw that it was an older woman who was covered in what they could only assume was the makings for tacos.

"I swear, I've asked him to fix that buggy bot a thousand times, but the boss is just as loony as the rest of them. Don't get me wrong, they're all great, if not a little crazy."

"Honey, don't worry about it." Said the older woman, who was brushing lettuce out of her hair. "It's not the first time I've been covered in tacos. Remind me to tell you that story sometime." Once she was clean enough, she grabbed her granddaughter up in a hug. "Oh, it's good to see you, sweetie."

"You too, Grandma. You should have told me you were coming, I would have fixed something up for breakfast. As it is, I just woke up."

"Oh? Rough night?" Her grandmother gave her a knowing grin.

Lorra laughed. "Nothing like _that_. I don't really have time for all that with my job. No, we had a show last night. Had to do some basic repairs on the band last night before I went to bed." She had looked behind her, seeing her friends. "Speak of the devil. Guys, come here. I want you to meet someone." The three of them did as they were bade. Spine looked over the older woman. Her hair was curly, a bright reddish brown. She was rather short, shorter than Lorra, and a bit stumpier in body shape. Her kind blue eyes smiled up at them. "This is my grandma, Jenna Marborne."

"Greetings, human who is called Grandma!" Hatchworth waved from his spot between the other two.

"He-he-hello." Rabbit glitched. Spine said nothing as he looked over the new person. There was something vaguely familiar about her...he just couldn't put his metal finger on it.

"Hi, there. I've heard all about you three. It's wonderful to finally meet you." She told them. "Lorra speaks very highly of you. I'm extremely glad to know she's getting on well here."

"Grandma," Lorra whispered. "You don't have to say stuff like that."

"Yes, I do, sweetie. These are the bots responsible for you being so happy. And if they keep you on your toes and run you enough to make you tired and sleepy, I'm not going to complain. Keeps you out of trouble."

"I don't get in trouble," Lorra pouted. Jenna patted her cheek.

"Of course you don't. Anyway, I'm rather pooped. It was a horrendously long flight and jet lag is a bitch."

"Oh! Um, Qwerty, can you make up a room for my grandmother to stay in for a while?"

" **Sure thing, Mizz Lorra! How would you like it decorated? I do a great cheese theme."**

"NO!" She yelled, causing everyone in the room to jump. "Ahem, no, thank you Qwerty. Just...tell me what room is available for her to sleep in. Preferably one with a bed."

" **Alright.** " There was a moment of silence, while the screen blipped the '….' Sign at them. Then Qwerty's smiley face came back on the screen. "T **he room right across from yours does indeed have a bed in it, but no door.** "

"That's ok." Turning back to her grandmother. "We'll rig something up so that you won't be bothered when the bots come to my room. How long were you planning on staying?" She asked as she picked up the suitcases that sat behind the older woman, and they started walking away. Since said bots didn't have anything else to do, they followed them up the stairs and down the hall in the direction of Lorra's room.

"Well, I'm in town for court, so I'm going to be here for a couple weeks."

"Really? I thought you were supposed to be retired. It's a big case then?" Lorra asked her.

"Huge. Probably the biggest I've ever had. We're sure to win this one, what little evidence we have against the defendant is pretty damn incriminating."

"Are you a lawyer Mrs. Marborne?" Spine asked her, still trying to understand what it was about this woman that seemed so off.

"Indeed I am, young man." Jenna nodded. "Been practicing for forty years, won almost every single one of my cases, with just a few exceptions. I've been living in Colorado for the last few years, but every so often, I have to come out here for court. And of course to visit my beautiful grandbaby." The older woman put her long-painted-nailed hands on either side of Lorra's face and smooshed her cheeks until she looked like a fish.

"Gwamma," Lorra said through pinched lips. "Quiiit!" She finally managed to free herself from her grandmother's hands, laughing. "My room's right here, so your's is across the hall. Sorry about the door. Mr. Walter has a thing about doors. Seriously, mine is the only room with one...not that it helps any." She turned and gave Rabbit the stink eye. The AI had the sense to look sorry, even though everyone knew she wasn't. "Anyway, I've got some blankets that we can nail up on the door frame for the time being."

"Sounds good, baby girl."

Lorra turned to smile at her grandma, but her face quickly fell when she saw the woman start to sit down in a big red armchair in the hall. "DON'T SIT THERE!" She yelled, surging forward to pull her away.

"What? Why?" Jenna asked, looking around.

The younger woman was breathing hard. "Sorry. Christ, how did that chair get here? Rabbit, I thought it usually came back in the sitting room." She turned to look at the female bot.

The robot shrugged. "H-h-how the heck am I supposed to-to know? It likes to b-b-be wherever people are."

The chair started breathing, it's face coming to the surface to growl at them for not sitting on it. "Bitty?

"You go-go-got it!" Opening her mouth, her flamethrower poked out and erupted to disintegrate the piece of furniture.

"Thank you, metal lass. You have freed me." Said the giant blue head that floated above the ruined material.

Lorra shook her head. "That happens a lot. Evil chair...I don't even know." She shrugged again. "This place is a little more than loopy. You never know what you're gonna find here. Hey, Spine?"

"Yeees?" He responded, eyebrows raised.

"You mind giving us a hand getting nailing the curtains up over the door? You're the tallest."

He grinned at the woman. "Why not, I've got no other plans this morning."

Jenna helped her granddaughter to pick out two relatively thick blankets to act a barrier between her room and the hallway, finally settling on a fuzzy dark purple one and a black and green one that had geometric designs on it. The whole time they were picking, Rabbit would pull out one that was rather thin, and hold it up with a giant grin on her face, only for it to fall away when they shook their heads and told her that wasn't what they needed. Even Hatchworth attempted to help... _attempted_ being the key word. More or less, he just wandered around pointing at random things and making strange noises. When the older human sent a questioning look to the younger, Lorra just shrugged and made a face that said 'I don't even know'. Finally, once they had the blankets picked out, Rabbit held them while Spine used the side of his hand to hammer four nails into the space above the door. With that done, he arranged them in such a way that they would overlap, and not fall off when she moved between the material. Rabbit and Lorra went back to the latter's room so she could dress, while Hatchworth disappeared off somewhere. Leaving Spine and Lorra's grandmother alone.

"You've been very helpful, Mr. Spine. Thank you so much." Jenna said, placing a hand on his chest. The contact made him a bit uncomfortable, though he didn't quite know why. It might have just been the spy-programming that P.A. Walter the first had installed back during the Elephant Wars, but he had long ago learned to listen to those hints.

Straightening up, he nodded his head. "You're welcome. It was nothing."

"But, of course it is something! You know, Lorra talks about you all the time." Spine's eyebrow rose. "Yep. _All_ the time. Between stories of Rabbit's malfunctions, and Hatchworth's constant summoning of sandwiches and such, she always has another little tale of you helping her with those two, or some conversation that the two of you had that she thought was interesting. She sounds so happy. That's part of the reason why I came here, you see? I had to see it for myself. Truthfully, I thought she was making most of it up. I mean, how could a misfit trio of robots become better friends to her than all the humans she has known throughout her life? Seriously, she hasn't talked to any of the friends she made during high school and college since she graduated." Jenna fixed him with a serious look. "My girl has always been a social butterfly, Mr. Spine, so I don't quite understand what it is about _you_ that seems to be more than enough for her to be comfortable not talking to anyone anymore."

"Ma'am, I think you misunderstand." Spine said, removing her hand from his chest plate. "Your granddaughter is quite a magnificent person to be able to deal with the three of us as easily as she does. And I can see where she gets it. Most people who meet us in person act as if we are nothing more than computer simulations, like Siri or something. They don't realize that we are actually true thinking beings. Maybe not necessarily alive, but we are something. You talk to me like you want information of some sort, and know that I know that. I cannot speak for Lorra as to whether or not she is truly happy here. You will have to determine that for yourself. Watch her with us, the way she works and acts around here. She may think of herself as just another worker, but to Hatchworth, Rabbit, and myself, we see her as a friend."

"Can robots even have friends?" Jenna narrowed her eyes, an expression that was oddly reminiscent of the way Lorra had done the same that very morning. "Are you programmed for that?"

"It has nothing to do with programming, Mrs. Marborne. We are artificial intelligences, we are much like humans in that our knowledge and personalities are ever expanding as we learn and experience the world. That is part of Lorra's job here, to help us learn. I think she has done a wonderful job of is in the last few months. Now, as I said, you should talk to her. I have other things to do today. Goodbye." The giant automaton nodded his head towards her, then turned around and walked back down the hallway.

It was at that point that Lorra came back out of her room with Rabbit. "Grandma? What was that all about?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, dear. Just having a little chat with your tall, dark, and handsome friend."

"Grandma-aa," Lorra grimaced. "Don't say stuff like that about Spine."

"The-the-the Spine does seem to be the one who g-g-g-gets all the fangirls." Rabbit input. "I suppose from a huma-ma-man perspective, my brother is pretty good loo-loo-looking."

"Not you too, Bitty." The worker rolled her eyes. "That's just weird. Anyway, Grandma, I've got some stuff to do today, if you'd like to tag along."

"Sure, why not?" Lorraine said.

"Great. Why don't we go down to the Hall of Wardrobes, and I can show you some of what I do when I'm not chasing down the bots."

)0(

Down in one of the many HOW's (Hall of Whatever), Rabbit sat, jittery in her seat, as Lorra worked on the new headpiece the AI had described. The top of her head sat on the workbench in front of the three women, Lorra pulling off the ears and antennas, and replacing them with bubblegum pink hair and a side plate to cover the exposed parts inside. Music played as she worked, entertaining both human and bot as she did. Elle King played through the speakers she kept near for whenever she was in there working.

 _"Well, I had me a boy, turned him into a man. I showed him all the things he didn't understand. Whoa, and I let him go."_ She sang, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. _"Now there's one in California who's been cursing my name, cause I found me a better lover in the UK. Hey, hey, until I made my getaway."_ Rabbit started to join in, but saw her brother and Hatchworth in the doorway behind her friend, Spine shaking his head with a finger to his lips. _"One, two, three, they're gonna run back to me. Cause I'm the best baby that they never gotta keep. One, two, three, they gonna run back to me. They always wanna come, but they never wanna leave."_

As she began the next part, Spine nodded and raised a hand for her to join the song, and the both of them started up with her. _"Ex's and the oh-oh-oh's, they haunt me, like gho-o-osts, they want me to make them all. They won't let go! Ex's and oh's."_ Lorra and her grandmother both looked to the door to see them striding forward, not breaking song, the silver bot's voice rising in pitch to match the females and Hatchy. _"I had a summer lover down in New Orleans. Kept him warm in the winter, left him frozen in the spring. My, my, how the seasons go by. I get high and I love to get low. So the hearts keep breaking, and the heads just roll. You know, that's how the story goes."_

Jenna watched her granddaughter stop singing gradually, her cheeks burning bright red. Her throat seemed to be working as she stared down at the piece of metal before her. The others continued to sing, as if they had no idea that she was no longer joined in. She sat there, she noticed how Lorra's head turned ever so slightly towards the male bots behind her, but not looking at anyone. Instead, she just went on working on Rabbit's new headpiece. The others eventually trailed off as the song finished, all of them staring at their human friend.

"Lorra?" Spine piped up.

"Wha-wha-what's wrong?" Rabbit quirked her head.

"Nothing...I was just listening," she answered. "Sometimes I forget how you guys sound without all the music and fans screaming, and Steve's tech mashups."

"We sound just the same as always, silly," Hatchworth said as his body did it's usual shivering movements. Standing up on his tiptoes, he grinned and whirred. "I did not even know you could sing, Lorra-loo!"

Under her breath, Jenna chuckled. "Lorra-loo?" Spine heard her and gave her an odd look.

"Ho-ho-how did you not know that, Ha-a-atchworth? Lorra sings all-ll-ll-ll the time." The other automaton shrugged his shoulders. "Her voice is so pr-pr-pre-tty."

Lorra rolled her eyes. "My voice is no better than any of y'alls."

Spine shook his head, moving forward to put a hand on her shoulder as he sat down. "Lorra, listen to me." Her grandmother, who had been sitting at the end of the bench, sat back to watch the interaction. "We're _robots._ We were built to sing and perform and entertain. Having a box inside us," he pressed his long silver fingers to the center of his own chest, an action that was mirrored by the other two, "that makes nice noise and calculates the best concoctions of sounds is _so_ much different than real, _natural_ muscles," Spine poked Lorra's throat, "and the mental ability to hear and know the right notes." Under the cool metal end of the appendage, the human's voice box moved up and down in an attempt to say something. "You have a beautiful voice, Lorra. Better than some of the people that claim to be singers now-a-days." Lorra's lips slowly turned up in a small smile, softly thanking him for his kind words. "There we are." He whispered. "We may have to pull you out on the stage one of these days."

At that, she burst out laughing. "Yeah, ok, whatever. I don't do crowds, that's why I work backstage." Shaking off the previous low mood, Lorra grabbed the remote to her stereo and changed the song. As the new one played, she focused harder on the half-finished wardrobe piece with new vigor. _"I am flesh and I am bone. Rise up, ting, ting, like glitter and gold. I've got fire in my soul, I'll rise, ting, ting, like glitter and gold. Do you walk in the valley of kings? Do you walk in the shadow of men? Who sold their lives for a dream?"_

)0(

The next few days passed rather quickly for everyone in the mansion. Everyday consisted of the two women waking up to make breakfast for not only them, but the boss Peter A. Walter VI, his mother Annie, and, occasionally, Norman, the resident abomination. But, for the most part, it was just Jenna, Lorra, and the bots. After breakfast, Jenna would accompany Lorra on her rounds of tinkering on Rabbit and Hatchworth, which she found very interesting. Especially, Hatchy's glowing blue portal.

"So...you can pull _anything_ out of it? From anywhere?" She asked, baffled.

"Indeed." Hatchworth jerkily nodded.

"Yeah, he _could_ ," Lorra rolled her eyes, trying to release a part of said sandwiches from a cog in his back. "And yet he insists on badgers and sandwiches. How the hell did you even managed to get this stuck here?"

"I'm not quite sure. Might have been the badger." He grinned. Lorra did not.

"I thought I told you to get rid of that thing! What if Marshmallow gets ahold of it?! Mr. Walter will have my head if his cat gets sick again from eating it."

"Cat?" Jenna sat forward. "I haven't seen a cat around here."

The younger woman shook her head. "You wouldn't. Marshmallow doesn't leave Mr. Walter's room or the Lounge Room of Last Resorts usually, unless it's to go use his litter box. But, believe me, you'd know if you saw him, he's huge." With a grunt, she finally managed to get the cogs unstuck and whirring again. As soon as they were moving, Hatchworth shivered and whooped.

"Well, I'll be sammiched! Thanks very much, Lorra-loo, I feel much more like my old self."

Lorra made a face at the bot, swiping a hand over her forehead, effectively smearing it with grease (not that she noticed). "That's great, Hatchy. No more badgers. I'm serious this time. Got it?"

"Got it!"

The woman shook her head and stood up from her seat. "Come on, Grandma. I gotta go check up on Spine, since he hasn't come out of his room yet." Waving Jenna out the door, up and up and up the stairs, she led her.

"And where exactly is his room? Everytime he runs off on his own, he literally disappears."

"No, he doesn't. Spine just doesn't like people bothering him in his room usually. The Hall of Wires is kinda his sanctuary."

"But you're allowed to go in whenever, right?" The red-headed woman's eyebrow raised with a secretive smile. "What if you walk in while he's undressed?"

"Grandma!" Lorra stopped walking, eyes wide. "He's a robot. It's not like he's got genitalia or anything. None of them do. Their machines. They were just designed to seem like they actually have a gender. Peter A. Walter the first was smart like that." She waved at the portrait of the founder of Walter Robotics, who had a rather severe, gaunt look about him. "Anyway, I've seen all the bots without clothes. Besides a general shape of a human body, they're all clockwork and joints. I should know, I work on said clockwork on a regular basis. Come on, it's down here."

At the end of the hall, was a door. "I thought you said none of the other rooms had doors." Jenna said, confused.

"Yeah, most of them. Spine's weird. I guess being the most human makes him value privacy more than the other two."

"The most human?"

Lorra paused with her hand raised to knock, her head fell a little. From where Jenna stood, she could see her granddaughter take a breath. "Yeah, most human." She said, turning. "You know that the group was originally made to be musicians. But, during the war, way back when, they were Walter the first refitted them to be deadly machines, capable of just about anything. Spine was changed to be more human, both in personality and appearance, so that he could be used against Becile as a spy. He retained that humanity after the war, but I think it might have messed him up a bit too."

"How so?"

Lorra shrugged. "You know how soldiers suffer from PTSD and depression? I think that Walter's tinkering may have caused Spine to have it. He worries me sometimes, which is why I like to check up on him when he's been shut up in his room all day." With that, the younger human turned and knocked on the door. There was no answer from within, so she pushed open the white wood and strode in. The inside of the room was lit with red lights and wires hung everywhere. "Spine?" Lorra called out. Jenna was trying to follow, but had to look at the floor to keep herself from tripping over the wires on the floor. "Spine, where are you?" Lorra asked.

From the ceiling came the deep voice. "Here, Lorra." Both women looked up, one in astonishment, the other with a smile. Spine's head hung down from one of the wires, but only his head...attached to a long snake-looking appendage. "What is it?" He asked.

"Just coming to check on you. You know you shouldn't be cooped up in here all day. Rabbit and Hatchworth were supposed be in the rehearsal studio in a little bit, said you had a new idea for the show at the end of the month. I figured you'd want to actually be there to tell them. Come on, buddy, get dressed and let's go." She waved at him to come down.

"Oh, alright," he said, mockingly saddened. The center of the floor opened up, and from the portal came the larger mass of The Spine. Spine himself was looking at the two women as his head was being lowered into the body, so he was quite confused when he saw Lorra look like she was choking on something, and the older woman hiding her mouth behind her hands. Once he was correctly situated within his chassis, he said, "What is it?"

Lorra said nothing, but there were tears leaking down her face in her attempt not to laugh as she pointed to his body. Spine looked down. Instead of his usual black and red suit, he found something much different. Grey skinny jeans hugged his legs, accentuating the lines and nobs, and a shiny red jacket with military tassels on the shoulders lay open, exposing his chest plates. On one hand, a single white, rhinestone glove. The women lost it. Jenna giggled behind her hand as Lorra bent over against the wall, trying not to fall over from laughing so hard. "Oh...my...GOD!" She squealed. "They turned you into Mi-Michael Jackson!" This time, she did fall to her knees, where she struggled to keep herself off the floor. "They," she gasped for breath, "They even drew _chest hair!_ " The last part came out higher and struggling as she continued to laugh, eyes squinted close.

Very rarely did Lorra ever laugh like that, especially not because of Spine...though, it didn't quite count as her laughing because of him, because it was the handy work of the other two bots. Speaking of them, he could hear them snickering outside the door. "Ladies, if you will excuse me, I have to go find the perpetrators who have turned me into the King of Pop." At his words, the two outside stopped laughing and started running. Moving between the human women, he quickly grabbed Lorra from the ground and hauled her over his shoulder.

"Spine! What are you doing?!" She yelled, still laughing to the point that her belly was in pain. Or maybe that was because of his metal shoulder digging against her tummy. Jenna followed quickly behind, slightly confused as to what was happening, but still amused.

"Don't seem so freaked out, sweetie. I'm sure this isn't the first time something like this has happened to you."

"Grandma!" She hollered.

Spine's head spun around to look at the woman walking behind him. "I believe that one of them might have my normal clothing. I will need some help getting it back on once we find it." He said, patting her back to help her stop wheezing from giggles.

"Stop that!" She swatted at his hand. "That's not helping, you're just making me laugh some more."

"Sorry."

"No, you're not."

"No, I'm not." He agreed. Lorra looked up at her grandmother as best she could from where her head hung in the middle of Spine's back, swinging with each giant step. She held her hands up in a 'what can I do' gesture. "Qwerty? Where are Rabbit and Hatchworth hiding?"

" **Lolz, in the Hall of Wax, buddy old pal, Spine-o! Shh, they told me not 2 tell u, rofl.** "

"Thank you, Qwerty." Spine hoisted Lorra up further on his shoulder, making her squeak in surprise.

The Hall of Wax was about what you'd think it is. Basically a Wax Museum, except there were no historical figures there. Mostly, it was sculptures of Gigi, or Marshmallow life size (not that anyone would believe it). Whatever Mr. Walter felt like making, got put in the Hall. There were a few strange things that no one really knew what they were, including a few odd purple figures of a woman that none of them knew. When asked about it, Mr Walter had shrugged it off and said "Me imagination's a bit wacky sometimes."

Moving among the figures, Spine still refused to put Lorra down. Instead, he simply shifted accordingly to avoid letting her feet or head hit anything. "Oh, Rabbit, Hatchy?" He called, faking curiosity as to where they were. "I think Lorra's in a bit of a pickle."

"Pickles are kittens," they heard from somewhere off to the right followed quickly by a shushing sound.

"Found them." Lorra said, resting her face on a fist with her elbow propped against the automaton's back. Jenna's eyebrows jumped to her hairline. "Yeah, it's that easy. These dummins can't hide for shit." As she swayed with the rhythm of Spine's gait, she elaborated. "Seriously, Spine is the only one that is even remotely a challenge when it comes to hide and seek. Ain't that right, Spiney Baby?"

"Being a spy has it's perks." Was all he said before ripping back a curtain. Behind it crouched the two missing bots. Rabbit immediately jumped up and pointed at her partner in crime.

"It was Hatchy's idea!" The male robot just looked up at them with a silly grin on his face.

"Pickles." He said, pointing to Lorra's behind atop the tall robot's shoulder.

"Yeah, Hatchy, pickles." Spine said, lowering her to the floor. Now, where in the good golly are my clothes?" Once Lorra got a look at him standing there in that silly costume with his hands on his hips, she started laughing again. Spine shot her a look, and she covered her mouth and shook her head. Lorra waved for him to continue. "Thank you. Seriously, guys, I need my real clothes. I _cannot_ very well practice today looking like Michael Jackson."

"We put them in Lorra's room la-la-last night." Rabbit giggled.

"You _what_?" The woman in question stopped chuckling and stared hard at the bots. "When did you do that? And where the hell did you hide them? I sure as crap didn't see them."

Rabbit put a finger to her lips and winked secretively at her friend, "That's c-c-cuz we hid 'em reeeeal well. By-by-by the way," she gave the human a thumbs up, "nice undies."

Lorra's eyes widened in horror. "You didn't!" The now pink-haired bot's response was to giggle and twirl away. "Damn it, Rabbit!" Taking off out the door and down the hall, Lorra ran as fast as she could to locate Spine's clothes before he went hunting for them himself. Bursting into her room, she slammed and locked the door. "Damn it, damn it, damn it." The brown haired woman whispered as she dove to her knees, shoving a hand under the bed to grab the Sterilite box she kept under there.

When it was finally free from it's space, Lorra yanked it open and dug around until she found what she was looking for. Sitting on top of Spine's vest, was a black and silver lingerie set that a friend had given her as a birthday gift the week that she had been asked to join Walter Robotics. Her and that friend were both fans of the band for years, having seen them at the San Diego Zoo a couple of times, and had fallen smitten with two members of the group. Miranda had been all for Rabbit until he became a she (to be honest, it still didn't bother her all that much), while Lorra had gone more towards the tall bot; especially after he had been kind enough to help her up when a group of rowdy kids surged forward, causing her to fall in front of the band. Miranda had had the corset specially made so that the laces on the back sported smaller versions of the plates that protruded from her new friend's back. She was rather embarrassed by the gift and had never worn it; only taking it out to look at it momentarily before hiding away again. With a sigh, Lorra grabbed Spine's clothes from the box and sat back on her heels

 _BAM!_ The door slammed open behind her, making her scream and jump as she turned to see the bot in question step into her room. Hurriedly, she closed the box and shoved it back to it's hiding place. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Fine, fine. Um, I found your clothes." Her smile was a bit drawn as she thrust the material into his hands and pushed him back out the door. Spine turned to say something, but reeled back when she slammed the door in his face.

"Well, that was odd." Spine said to himself. Behind him, he heard a feminine giggle. "Rabbit, where did you hide these?" His sister grinned at him.

"I shan't say nothing if you don't say 'please'." She sang.

"Please."

"NOTHING! Hahahaha." With that, the older bot ran down the hall, leaving him even more confused.

)0(

 _ **A/N: That's it for this chapter, darlings. Next one is a super important, so stay tuned.**_

 _ **AcaciaDawn105**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three~ Showtime**_

 _ **A/N: So, there's a part in here that is going to need your imagination, kay? So, when you see**_ **just bold, like this,** _ **it's the Spine.**_ _When it looks like this, it's Lorra._ _ **And when it looks like this, it's both. Right, back to the story.**_

A week after the incident, Spine walked out of his room to find Walter Manor suspiciously quiet. Rabbit and Hatchworth were thus far nowhere to be found. Perhaps they were hiding. They did that sometimes. Annie, Peter A. Walter VI's mother was coming down the hall from the opposite direction. As they neared each other, he tipped his hat.

"Mrs. Walter, good morning."

"Oh, good morning, Spine. How are you today?" The greying blonde woman smiled.

"Wonderful. I was wondering, you wouldn't happen to know where everyone is, would you?"

"Hmm," she put a thoughtful finger to her chin. "I haven't seen anyone except for Peter so far this morning, but I thought I heard music from the kitchen. Have you checked there?"

"Not yet. Thanks." The two smiled at each other, then went on their own ways. The trek down to the kitchen might have been a confusing on if he hadn't been living there for years, with the many twisting halls and flights of stairs.

He thought back to the first morning that Lorra had awoken as their new manager. Spine had found her wandering the hallways, poking her head in and out of doors, with an extremely confused look on her face. Chuckling, the bot remembered how he had unintentionally snuck up on her. When he had asked what she was looking for, the poor woman screamed and smacked her face against the doorway she was looking through; her glasses had ended up on the floor with a broken arm and cracked lense. Now, Lorra was extremely near-sighted, so without her glasses she couldn't see much more than a giant blob of black and silver in front of her. For whatever reason, her brain (which had not yet been sharpened by the human fuel that is coffee) did not register what little it could see. The following moment consisted of her cursing at him and asking him if his mother had ever told him it wasn't nice to sneak up on people as she dropped to the ground to try to find her glasses. The whole scene struck him as funny, as it reminded him of the T.V. show Scooby-Doo where the orange clad Velma did something very similar...minus the foul words. Lorra had just found the wire spectacles and was holding them up against her face when he responded that he didn't really have a mother. When the woman heard his voice, she froze, glasses falling from her fingers and back to the floor. Spine remembered how he had chuckled at her and picked them up for her, then helped her stand up. After she finally got over her case of being star-struck, she immediately apologized and tried to take the hurtful words back. Spine had simply held up his hand and told her that it was perfectly fine, as it was his fault that she had been hurt. And been hurt she had. The resounding thud of her face meeting the door jam had created a bruise across the right side of her cheek and jaw. He apologized for scaring her, and with a gentle hand, led her to the kitchen to get some ice for the blooming discoloration.

That had been the beginning of the odd friendship between human and robot. Spine smiled to himself as he turned the corner towards the kitchen and heard the music that Annie had been talking about. He also found Steve, Rabbit and Hatchworth on either side of the door listening in wonder. He came closer. "What are you three doing?" All of them turned around long enough to shush him and then went back to listening. From within, he could hear the song, but was surprised to hear another voice belting out along with it. Spine ducked his head around the edge, and was greeted with a most amazing sight.

 _"Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?"_ Lorra sang into a whisk, leaning into it. _"Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need."_ They all watched in amusement as she put a hand dramatically on her forehead and bent backwards over the table. The piano faded off, then she jumped up and started spinning around the room. _"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight! I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero til the morning light! He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life!"_ She was really into it, occasionally standing in place to mix something in a large bowl on the counter, adding eggs or other ingredients as she went.

"The Spine!" Rabbit whisper-shouted at him. "We should re-re-really get her to sing with us."

"She already said no, Rabbit." He admonished.

"A-a-and? C'mon, Spine, it'll be great!"

Steve pulled one of his hands out from under his arm and raised it. "If my opinion is worth anything in this, I think it's a great idea."

"What are all of you doing hovering out here?" Lorra's grandmother appeared as if out of nowhere. Inside the kitchen, the song changed. They heard a faint squeal as Spine's voice came over the speaker singing the cover he had done of the singer Rihanna.

 _"Palms rise to the universe, as the moon shines on me. Feel the warmth we'll never die. We're like diamonds in the sky. You're a shooting star, I see, a vision of ecstasy."_ Her voice deepened to match the one on the stereo, " _When you hold me, I'm alive, we'_ re," It went back to her usual tone, " _like diamonds in the sky."_

"Seriously, doesn't she get enough of you three following you around all the time?" Jenna scoffed before pushing past them into the room. "Good morning, sweetie." Lorra squeaked and the music suddenly faded out.

"Hey, Grandma. I'm making a Dutch Baby. Just like you and Mom used to make for school."

"Yummy. I'm sure it'll be great." Jenna got herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to watch her granddaughter work. "So, how'd you sleep."

"Good, for once. I actually went to bed at a reasonable time last night. It might have helped that Bitty didn't come wake me up this morning, which is weird. They must have already been in rehearsal."

"Do robots need rehearsal?"

"Well, yeah. They gotta make sure that all their stuff works. Steve needs to get all the audio and tech stuff matched up with the setlist. Mike and Matt need to practice as well. Not to mention, yours truly." She gestured to herself with the spatula, grinning.

"And _what_ exactly do you do?" Jenna raised a speculative eyebrow.

"I make sure the outfits hold out. And the upgrades. Mr. Walter wants to put a new faceplate on Rabbit. Thing is, it's gonna be made of porcelain, so we have to make sure that it's not gonna crack while she sings." The older lady didn't seem impressed. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Bull. It's never nothing when you make that face, Grandma."

Jenna sighed, leaning forward. "I just think you could be doing so much more."

"Not this again!" Lorra threw her hands up. "We've been through this a hundred times!"

"Yes, and we will no doubt go over it a hundred times more before you get it into your flighty brain. Lorra, honey, where exactly do you think this is going to take you? You have a _degree_. In a great subject. You could go to law school. I know for a fact that you'd make a wonderful lawyer."

The younger woman rolled her eyes as she put the breakfast pastry in the oven. "I don't want to be a lawyer. That's your niche, not mine."

"Right, and what's your 'niche' again, sweetie? Oh, that's right, music. You tried that once, remember? That stupid radio DJ gig you had. Music isn't going to get you anywhere in life, especially when you can't even sing in front of people."

"I can, too. I just don't. And I did great with the radio. I left because I couldn't handle the other DJ harrassing me constantly. Besides, I'm doing good here, Grandma. Mr. Walter has given me a lot of responsibility dealing with the bots, but it's paying off. I make good money, I get to travel. _And_ I get to be around music and...and robots, for crying out loud! There are people who would _kill_ to be where I am."

"Then let them. These people are all crazy."

"I like crazy. That's why I studied Psychology, that's why I took this job. Grandma, I _love_ it here. I love the bots, and the crew, and the Walters. This is my home."

"Your home is back in Colorado with the rest of your family, Lorra."

" _Family_?" Lorra spat. The sound startled the three robots and one human standing outside, as none of them had ever heard such a tone coming from their friend's mouth. "You mean the piles of half-brothers and sisters that remind me every day that my mysteriously absent biological father chose other women over me and Mom?" Spine's forehead plate whirred as his brows crinkled. Lorra had told them that she never knew her biological father. "Or do you mean the cousins that have nothing to do with me because their parents all found out _your_ side of the family dabbles in magic? Of course, your side of the family meaning, you, me, Mom, and Great Grandma Janine. You know, Mom doesn't even talk to me anymore? Every time I try to call, she ignores the call."

"Honey, your mother is going through a really rough time right now. James just lost his job at the factory, and your sister hasn't been doing well in school-"

"And? I'm her _daughter_!"

"Thing's aren't that simple, sweetie."

"I needed her. I needed _you_. And both of you were too centered on your own selves that you couldn't even pick up the phone and just talk to me." Both of them fell silent, neither looking at the other. After a few minutes, Lorra took a deep, shaky breath and swept her hair back. "There's a couple more minutes on breakfast. Take it out when the timer beeps." With that, she hurried away from her grandmother. When she rounded the corner, she ran straight into a very tall, very hard chest. "Get out of my way."

"Lorra? What's wrong?" Spine asked, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I said get out of my way!" The human slapped his hands away, looking up at him in frustration. Everyone present was surprised to see tears in her eyes, but none more so that the silver bot right in front of her.

"Lorra," he said softly.

"Not now, Spine. Please, just...not now." No one else noticed how her chin quivered as she turned away and all but ran back up the stairs.

Outraged, Spine straightened up and stalked into the kitchen. "What the hell was that?"

"Mr. Spine, you really shouldn't eavesdrop, it's not very nice."

"I thought you were here to make sure she was happy, not try to make her upset?" By now, the other three had joined them as well.

"It's not my fault she gets defensive every time I talk to her about anything even remotely serious. Blame her mother for that." Jenna shrugged and took a sip of coffee. "You have to understand, she can't stay here."

"And why not?" Steve asked, crossing his arms. "Lorra likes it here, we like having her here. Nothing much you can do to change her mind about something like that. So, why are you trying to make her leave us?"

"Because I don't think she's cut out to deal with all of you maniacs." Behind her, the timer dinged. The red-head got up and pulled the puff pastry out of oven. "Breakfast is ready. One of these days, Lorra is going to see that she can't handle you people. And when she does, I'm going to be at home, ready to welcome her back with open arms."

All of the bots (and the human) bristled at the woman's words. "You c-c-can't make her leave us. Not if sh-sh-she doesn't want to."

"You're right, I can't. She has to see it for herself."

"You are a horrible woman." Spine said, green eyes darkening. "You've seen the way she is with us, the way she smiles and laughs and interacts. Maybe if you came to our show, you would see how happy she is to work with us. She's our friend, and we are _not_ giving her up that easily, Mrs. Marborne."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Spine. I'm supposed to leave the day before, but I suppose I can get a later flight. Just don't be surprised when the shoe drops and she runs off." With that, Jenna stood up and left the room with a plate of food.

"The Spine," Hatchworth spoke up, "We have to do the new show idea now. Otherwise, she might just leave."

"Yeah, but you said she might not want to." Steve pointed out.

"So, we-we-we don't tell her it's happening. Just get her out there. Surely she'd do something if we push her out."

"Maybe." The human tech nodded. "But, she won't know what to do. I can give her cues and pointers if you can get a headset on her. What were you wanting her to do? Let me check it out and see what kind of setup I can throw together."

Spine put a hand on his chin, thinking. His luminous eyes roved over the kitchen as if it could give him the answers. After a moment, his eyes fell on the stereo and his face broke into a grin. "I know just the one."

)0(

"Rabbit, why do I have to dress up? It's not as if anyone is going to see me from backstage." Lorra flopped on her bed as the automaton rifled through her closet.

"Be-be-because, it's the six month anniversary of the day you started working with us!" Rabbit exclaimed, turning around with an article of clothing in each hand. She started holding them up towards the woman, trying to see which one would look best.

"Your point? It's just a day. If you really want to do something for me, bake me a cake or something." Holding up a finger, she stopped the bot. "On second thought, don't do that. We don't need the kitchen being blown up."

"Oh, y-y-ye of little faith." She glitched, picking out another top. "Do you not have a-a-any stuff like what we wear?"

"Um...not really."

A little bit of steam escaped the pink-haired robot's vents, showing her frustration. In a flash, she was across the room grabbing Lorra's hand and hauling her up. "Come on. I might have something you can wear."

"Bitty, none of your clothes are going to fit me!" She said as she was dragged down the hall. "You're taller and wider than I am, and all your stuff is modified specifically for you. I should know, I'm the one that fixes them." The statement made the bot stop in the middle of the hallway.

"Fine, then..." Rabbit's mismatched blue and green eyes stared at her for a moment. With a jolt, she started running down the hall again, still towing Lorra along. "Spiiiiiiiine!" She yelled. "Hey, Spine!" Lorra nearly fell going down the stairs as Rabbit continued to tug and pull on her wrist. "Spine, where are you?!"

"I'm right here, Rabbit. What is it?" The bot in question stepped out of the library.

"Lorra doesn't have an outfit for the show next week and none of my stuff will fit her!"

One of his eyebrows rose. "And you're bringing this to me...why?"

"Do you ha-ha-have anything she can borrow?" Both of them looked at her in confusion.

"Bitty." Lorra shook her head. When Rabbit looked at her, she sighed. "I wouldn't fit any of Spine's stuff either. He's too tall and skinny. And don't go yelling for Hatchy next. I doubt his clothes will work. It's no big deal, I'll just wear the same stuff I normally do."

"No, no, no. That won't do at all." Spine told her. "Come on, I'm sure we can find something for you. We can fix something up. Come on." With a hand on her back, he guided them both back to the stairs. Down three more flights, and they were at the entrance to yet another hall. "Welcome, ladies, to the Walter Family's personal tailor."

"Tailor?" Lorra looked at him oddly. "If you guys have a personal tailor, then what the hell am I doing everyday up in the Hall of Wardrobes?"

Rabbit and Spine laughed. "Where d-d-do you think all the clothing that you fix comes from?" Said the older bot. "Pete has all our stuff custom-om-om made, then you get to rep-pa-pair it when we mess it up."

The robots each took a hand and pulled her through the doorway. As they walked through the stacks of cloth and patterns, Lorra stared in awe. There were so many different bolts of cloth, most in black and red, but there were other ones too. Bright cremes and varying shades of blue, a few greens and pinks even. Rabbit let go of her hand, and Lorra ran it gently over a sheer purple pattern. On and on the shelves went, all the way up to the ceiling, and deeper into the room. It was like a whole building all on it's own. Lorra grinned.

"How did I not know about this place?" She breathed.

"You may have been with us a while, Lorra, but this house still has many secrets. Even we are constantly finding more and more rooms." Spine gestered between himself and Rabbit. Winking, the taller bot put a hand to his mouth and yelled, "Mr. Port?"

A small crash resounded from deeper in the room, accompanied by a yelp. After a few moments, grumbling reached their ears and a short, rotund man garbed in a dark green tunic shirt, black bell-bottoms, and coke bottle glasses came stalking out from behind a stack of cloth. "What did I tell you about yelling in my workshop, bot?!" He shook his fist at the three of them, which held a pair of huge scissors. Lorra stepped back involuntarily, bringing his beady, magnified eyes to her. "Oh, hello dear." His voice and demeanor seemed to change in that instance. His whole face softened with the smile that lit up the buggy orbs behind glass. "You must be the new band manager. Such a pleasure to meet you. Demetri Port, at your service." With the grace of a dancer, he swooped into a flamboyant bow. "What can I do for you today? It's not often I get a new customer."

"We need an outfi-fi-fit for Lorra." Rabbit clapped her hands. "Something pret-t-ty and lovely and perfect!"

Lorra rolled her eyes at the bot, though Demitri didn't seem fazed in the least. "Of course!" The woman tried to protest, but was firmly led back into the work area of the room. "Every girl deserves at least one princess moment. And, honey," he glanced her up and down once she was on the platform in the middle of the room, "something tells me you haven't had one."

Lorra looked down at her clothes, her usual jeans, tank top, and flannel. "What's wrong with _my_ clothes?"

"Darling, absolutely nothing. But, you should have some occasion to dress up once in a while. Now!" He clapped his hand together once, turning to the robots. "What are we thinking? The usual? Or something a little more?"

"M-m-more!" Rabbit jumped excitedly up and down with her arms in the air. Her brother settled her with a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Perhaps something similar to ours would be fine, Mr. Port."

Demetri rolled his eyes, flipping his honey-colored bangs out of his eyes and studied the human before him. "I'm thinking a little longer in the front than Rabbit's dresses. Maybe a little less fuss with the decorations. You don't need much of anything to make you pretty, sweet pea."

"Thanks." She muttered.

"With your skin tone," the short man continued, "I don't know how well bright colors are going to go."

"Mr. Port, I thought we were going with the usual?" Spine leaned himself against a shelf, arms crossed.

"Eeeeh," he shrugged. "Just thinking of the alternatives. Not everyone looks so suave in black and red, Spine-o."

"I-I-I think Lorra-loo would look gr-gr-great in ANYTHING!" Rabbit exclaimed.

"Thank you, Bitty, but I really don't. Yellow, bright pink, and neon green are my sworn enemies." The human woman joked.

Demetri nodded along. "I believe it. But, that's alright. You certainly won't be wearing any bright colors. I think the usual will do just fine for you." And with that, he went about picking up this cloth or that, holding the different styles up for her approval. Rabbit had disappeared some time ago, having become bored of sitting there with nothing to do. Every once in a while, Spine would chime in. For instance, the moment Demetri grabbed a certain type of material, it was immediately pulled from his hands and tossed on the reject pile.

"Lorra can't wear that."

"What?!" She yelled, confused. "What the hell? Who are you to say what I can and can't wear?"

Spine just rolled his eyes. "You told me, remember?"

Lorra just looked at him like he was crazy. "The hell?"

With a mechanical sigh that left the scent of oil permeating the air, he picked the discarded bolt up and held it out to her. "Feel it." Skeptically, she reached out and ran her fingers over the fabric. Immediately, a shudder ripped through her. It was just that weird texture that made her cringe. There was something about certain fabrics that she couldn't handle. "You told me some time ago about your sensory overload."

Her eyes widened. Back when Lorra had first moved there, Peter had attempted to have her wear the same uniform as the Walter Worker Girls. That was another reason why she had refused. She couldn't handle it. "Sorry, Spine."

"It's alright." He put one hand on her shoulder, while throwing the bolt of cloth behind him. Lorra had to grin, as she and Spine were, at the moment, the same height. He seemed to realize this, too and started laughing. "Mr. Port, she's all yours." The bot said, stepping back with a slight bow. "I have some other things to attend to at the moment."

Lorra puffed at a lock of hair that had fallen in her face as he rounded the corner out of her sight. "Damn him."

"Yeah," Demetri said in a somewhat dreamy voice. "I tell you what, honey, if only he was human, I'd be all over that in a second." The woman's eye widened, surprised at him. "What? It's not exactly a secret that he's the hottest thing to ever walk this earth. Too bad he's a robot, eh?" Lorra chuckled, a bit uncomfortable, when he elbowed her. Demetri looked up from where he was measuring her legs, and gasped. "Oh. My. Gawd! You _like_ him, don't you?"

"What?!" She gapped at him. "No...I mean, he's basically my best friend, so I... _like_ him. But I don't _like_ like him. God, I sound like a middle schooler."

"A little bit. You can't fool me, girly. I have a sixth sense. I know these things. You totally like him." She shot him a look, to which he held up his hands. "Don't worry, darling. Your secret's safe with me."

)0(

Lorra stood behind a piece of machinery backstage, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to ease the headache that had been building up all day. For most of the day before the performance, she had been on the run. It was currently 9 pm, and she had been going from 4 o'clock that morning. There was only so much coffee she could drink before she felt like her head was being beat in with a hammer. Grimacing, she tried not to scratch her head, as Camille and Chelsea had taken it upon themselves to do her hair up in tight braids that were twisted in on themselves, with a few tendrils just kind of hanging out around her face. And they had done her makeup, which she had fought tooth and nail about, but in the end...gave up. She would be so glad when this was all over and she could go home and shuck this whole appearance. Demetri had made good on his promise to make her look good. But, apparently looking good meant feeling horrible.

"Beauty is pain," he had said, forcing her into a pair of three inch heeled boots.

At least the corset she was wearing was mostly there for decoration. If she hadn't been able to breathe, she might have killed someone. As it was, she had spent most of the day in her normal clothes, but Rabbit had insisted she go get ready an hour previous. Right now, all she wanted was a bath hot enough to boil a lobster and some epsom salts for her aching muscles. Earlier in the evening, her grandmother had come back to see her and wish her luck. But, when she saw the outfit, she just shook her head with a grim look and muttering something about being assimilated.

"Beauty is pain, beauty is pain, beauty is pain," she repeated to herself.

"It shouldn't be." Spine's voice broke her out of her self-pitying moment. "Are you alright."

Plastering on a smile, she looked up at her friend. "I'm fine. I just have a headache is all. Got a lot on my mind. Anyway, what are you doing back here? Shouldn't you be getting ready to go on?"

"Eh, I've got a few minutes. I wanted to see how you were doing." Lorra took hold of the proffered metal hand and let him help her up. "Mr. Port did a good job. Especially for the time constraint we gave him."

Blood rushed to her cheeks. "I guess you have to be the best to work for Walter Robotics."

"That's right. Well, everything is set up. I think it's going to be another great show."

"Without a doubt," she said with a smile. "Go on, they're gonna be looking for you." Lorra pushed him towards the other side of the stage. The robot hesitated. "I'm fine, Spine. I promise. Go." With a hand on the brim of his hat, he gave a small bow and went back to his spot.

)0(

The bots were on a roll!

Song after song, skit after skit, the crowd went crazy for them. Lorra stood just behind the curtain, far enough that the audience wouldn't see her, but close enough that the robots could probably hear her singing along with the rest of the human fans in the room. They had just started "Saturday Night" when Camille ran up to her with something in her hand. She looked rather frantic, and pulled the younger woman away.

"Hey, Cam, what's wrong?"

"Steve needs to talk to you. Here," she thrust the device into her hand, then ran away.

Lorra looked down to see an earpiece and microphone pack. Confused, she put the earpiece in and attached the mic. "Steve?"

" _Lorra! Great, Camille got to you in time._ "

"Yeah, in time for what? What's going on? Is there a problem with one of the bots? Because they look absolutely fine from where I'm standing."

" _Yeah, no, everyone's great. Listen, I know you're probably gonna hate all of us after this. But, we all got together and decided to get you a gift. Sort of a 'thank's for sticking around so long' thing._ "

"Seriously? Dude, just wait until after the show. No need to worry about me while you're busy keeping everything up and running."

" _Well, see, that's the thing. I keep everything going. And right now, you're a thing._ "

"What?" Lorra peaked from behind the curtain to look at the man at the back of the room at the soundboard. He was looking right towards her, giving her a thumbs up. "Steve, what's going on?"

" _Don't hate me. It wasn't my idea._ "

Before she could ask him again, the song ended on stage. Rabbit began talking to the audience.

"Al-al-alrighty now, folks. We have a very special surprise for you. As some of you might know, we had anoth-th-ther friend join the Walter family." There was an eruption of cheers.

"She's a very important persons to us, and we would like to take this chance to ask her to come on stage with us." Hatchworth turned towards her and waved.

Lorra stared at them, then shook her head vigorously. "No. No, no, no, no! This is not happening right now!"

" _'fraid so, friend._ " Steve chirped in her ear. " _Don't worry. I'm gonna be here the whole time to give you direction._ "

"Steve..." She gulped as Rabbit and Hatchy came towards her.

" _Yeah?_ "

"If I live through this. I'm going to kill all of you." The two bots grabbed her on either arm and led her on stage. The lights were so bright she couldn't see anyone in the audience, and so hot that she immediately started sweating in her many layers of clothes. Spine wrapped an arm around her once she was close enough.

Pulling his mic away from his mouth for a moment, he whispered out the side of his lips, "Just go with it. Steve and I are here. You know the song."

" _Song_?!" She stared at him. Luckily her mic wasn't on.

" _Like Spine-o said, just go with it. We got you, girl."_

"Now, most of you know that we had a new band manager." Spine's statement was greeted with cheers. "But, most of you don't know that this lovely lady," he pulled his arm from around her shoulders, only to take hold of her hand and place a kiss to the back of it. "Is more than just a manager. She is a seamstress," laughter, "a maid, and a cook." More laughs. Lorra had been staring at Spine with wide eyes. Now, she was staring at her shoes. "But, more important than all of that, Lorra Marborne is our friend." A slew of aww's met her ears as her head shot up. "She puts up with all of us on a daily basis, and never once has she complained, except when joking." His green eyes started glowing more as he smiled at her. "So, when we found out that she had an appreciation for music, we couldn't help but put together this little surprise for her. Everyone, give it up for our very good friend, Lorra."

The audience applauded and cheered and whistled. And Lorra just stood there wide-eyed. With a giggle, and a wave, she tried to make her way back to the wings, but was stopped by Spine's hand still in her's.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, slightly amused.

"Backstage."

His grin grew wider. "We're not done yet." To the crowd, he said, "We don't usually perform our covers, but I think that tonight is a special exception, don't you?" A chorus of yes's answered him. "Great!" He turned and nodded to the rest of the band behind him. A familiar intro riff began, and her eyes got even wider.

"No?!"

" _Yes!"_ Steve yelled in her ear, making her flinch. " _Listen, we heard you singing in the kitchen the other day. You know the lyrics. Alright. You know the parts where he usually gets higher, and you come in when you sing to the video?"_

"Yeah..."

 _"Great, just do that. You got this, Lorra. Knock 'em dead._ "

Spine winked at her before going completely still, eyes closed. The crowd went silent, the tension in the air was stifling.

" **Shine bright like a diamond...Shine bright like a diamond..."** His eyes shot open and set on a space she couldn't see. " **Find light in the beautiful sea, I chose to be happy. You and I, you and I. We're like diamonds in the sky. You're a shooting star, I see. A vision of ecstasy.** " The girls started screaming as he reached up to yank at his tie. _Fuck,_ Lorra thought, _he's getting naked on stage. Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!_ **"When you hold me, I'm alive. We're like diamonds in the sky. I knew that we'd become one right away. Oh, right away! At first sight, I saw the energy of sun rays.** " Looking to her, he nodded. _FUCKING SHIT! "_ **I saw the life inside of your eyes."**

As he said eyes, she came in too. " _ **So shine bright. Tonight.**_ " Lorra was much softer than him at her intro. In her ear, she heard Steve telling her to get louder and speak up. She almost didn't hear him over the fact that Spine was _still getting undressed_. To be fair, he only unbuttoned his vest and a few buttons on his shirt to expose part of his chest. All the while, looking back at her. _**"You and I. We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky.**_ _ **Eye to eye, so alive."**_ She broke off. **"We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky."** The two sang the chorus, with her saying 'shine bright, tonight' and him singing the other part.

" _Alright girly, it's time to strut your stuff. Your solo!"_ Steve said to her via the earpiece.

 _Holy shit. Ok, it's ok, forget the crowd, forget what you're doing, and just sing. Like in the shower, or the kitchen. Act it out, put yourself in the song._

 _"Palms rise to the universe_ ," Her voice belted out, actually the exact tone of Spine's higher audience started screaming again. This time not for the practically naked Spine, but the excitement of hearing a new singer. " _As the moon shines on me. Feel the warmth, we'll never die. We're like diamonds in the sky. You're a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy._ **When you hold me, I'm alive. We're like** _diamonds in the sky. At first sight, I felt the energy of sun rays."_ She forced herself to actually look at her best friend. Hard as it was, she managed to actually keep her eyes on his face. Sure, he was a robot, but P.A. Walter the first had done a damn fine job on him. " _I saw the life inside of your eyes._ "

" _ **So shine bright, tonight, you and I. We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky. Eye to eye, so alive. We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky."**_ Another round of the chorus, and they came to the one Lorra had always split up in a funny way. Spine noticed her hesitance and winked.

" **Shine bright like a diamond** _. Shine bright like a diamond._ _ **Shine bright like a diamond. So shine bright, tonight. We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky."**_

The song ended, and Lorra could not believe that they were still clapping. Even Steve seemed to be totally surprised that she was able to actually do it...

Suddenly, she was surrounded in arms. Rabbit and Hatchworth both encircled her from the side/back, pushing her forward into Spine, who had been about to hug her as well.

"O-o-oh, my gosh! I can't beli-li-lieve it! You did amazing Lorra-loo!" The overzealous Rabbit yelled in her ear over Steve's voice in the same one.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either." She said with her face stuffed in the still exposed metal chest of the tall robot. She could feel his chest plates moving as his laugh rang out above her head.

"You did wonderfully, Lorra." He told her, tightening his arms around her. "Come on, we've got one more song to do to wrap up the show."

Lorra was led off stage by Rabbit, who was closest to the wings, still slightly out of it from the sheer joy still ringing throughout her body. The rest of the night went smoothly, and before she knew it, they were walking through the front door of Walter Mansion. Her grandmother had tried to talk to her, but realized that she was still so freaked out that she just patted her face and said goodnight. Rabbit and Hatchy looked to their brother for what to do. He just motioned his head for them to go on. Lorra jolted when Spine put his hand on her arm, and gave her a smile when she looked at him.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

"I'm fine, buddy. I can get to my room by myself."

"I know you can. But this gives me a reason to talk to you."

"What are you up to now, you sneaky bot?"

He chuckled. "Nothing at all, Lorra."

It didn't take very long to get there. And neither of them said anything at all. At her door, she turned around to look at Spine. "This is me. Thanks, but I can take it from here. Don't need you undressing me and tucking me in for bed," she snorted, patting his elbow. "Night, Spine." Turning around, he stopped her with a slight pull on her arm.

"Lorra..."

"Hmm?"

"About tonight...you're not mad are you?"

A gentle smile touched her eyes. "Of course not, sweetie. I was a little upset at first, but I had fun, and it was a great experience. I never thought I'd ever get to do something like that. Thank you."

"I was glad to do it, Lorra. We all were. You do so much for us, and we never do anything at all for you. I just wanted to make sure you stick around for a while."

"You're not gonna get rid of me that easily, punk. I love it here, and I plan on staying for a while. At least until you guys get tired of me."

Spine chuckled softly. "We will never get tired of having you here." Leaning forward, she felt his cold metal lips press against her forehead. "Goodnight, Lorra." And then he walked away.

And from across the hallway, Jenna Marborne narrowed her eyes through the gap in her doorway blankets. This was _not_ happening.

)0(

 _ **A/N: And thank you so much for reading you guys, you have no idea how hard this stupid thing was to write. Anyway, love you, my dear reader. Drop me a line.**_

 _ **AcaciaDawn 105**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four~ Old Blue**_

 _ **A/N: Alright you guys, this is it. The scene I've been dying to write is finally upon us. This was the original thought for the story. It's been killing me having to get here. It's not the end, by far, but is defiantly the turning point of the story. You'll know it when you see it ;)**_

After sleeping better than she had in so long, Lorra's eyes fought to stay closed as she attempted to pull herself from the weird dream she'd been having. Of course, as soon as her sleep-gunk-glued eyes managed to pry themselves open, the last memories of it faded into that place where you know it's there, but you can't remember anything concrete. Lorra lay in bed, one hand rubbing the gunk out of her eyes and trying as hard as she could to remember. The only thing that came up was blue. A lot of blue. It was bright and smoky, swirling all around her in her dream. Beyond that...nothing. Getting up, Lorra kicked her blanket off and swung her feet to the floor. Something about the blue smoke was eerie and disconcerting, like it was a warning of some sort. But, whatever it was, she couldn't remember. Shrugging off the disturbing thoughts, she managed to push herself off the bed. Her whole body protested. After being on the move all day, and then being forced to put up with heels for a good bit of the night, Lorra's body was not in the mood to cooperate with her. To be completely honest, her mind wasn't either. All she wanted to do was collapse back in bed and pull the covers up over her head. But, she couldn't do that. She had to take her grandmother to the airport today. Putting on her glasses and picking up her phone, Lorra checked the time. 8:50 A.M. Why the hell was she up this early? It had been after midnight by the time she had finally managed to shuck the torture contraption that Dimitri had made her. With a groan, she pushed herself up.

"Might as well," she mumbled to herself. Grandma would have to be at the airport by 11 o'clock. In the meantime, she needed food...and coffee. "Coffee, coffee, coffee." Lorra sang as she exited her room, combing her fingers through the rat's nest that she called hair. A particularly gnarly knot took up all but enough of her attention that it took not to trip on the stairs, so she didn't notice that it was extremely quiet in the manor for a few moments. When she did, she stopped halfway down the staircase. "Hello?" She called out. No one answered her.

To be fair, the Walter Worker girls would probably still be asleep. Dealing with blue matter was often very taxing, and therefore required for the girls to get more rest than average. It also bleached their skin and turned their hair blue, which was somewhat strange to most people. In fact, there had been many scientists outside of the Walter family that had attempted to sue Peter A. Walter VI for endangering his workers to radioactive material. Of course, it fell through when absolutely no radiation was found on the bots, or the Workers, and Chelsea and Camille told each and every one of them that they were very happy and in perfect health. With that, the Walter family won out several court cases against them and ended up just that much richer. There was no telling where that money went, though. Probably another harebrained contraption or add-on to the manor. Come to think of it, that was right before Lorra was hired, so it very well may have ended up being her salary.

Still, no one was to be seen. Not human, nor bot, nor the resident abomination. Lorra rubbed her tired eyes and rounded the corner to enter the kitchen.

"SURPRISE!" Mutiple bodies jumped out from various places in the kitchen.

Lorra screamed, tripped over the edge of the rug and fell to the floor with a rather loud thump. "What the hell?!" She yelled at the group of people huddled around her. "What is going on?!"

Spine moved to help her up. "Pete heard what a wonderful job you did last night and insisted we throw you a party."

Lorra gaped at them. "At 9 o'clock in the morning? When I'm not even fully awake yet?" She shook her head and rubbed her face, taking a moment to calm her racing heart.

"Th-th-that part was my id-de-de-dea." Rabbit raised her hand from the back of the crowd.

Annie stepped in to rescue the poor bot from the glare that was forming on Lorra's face. "On account of the fact that your grandmother will be leaving us this afternoon. We thought it would be nice for her to be present at this small celebration." She gestured behind her at the older redheaded woman standing dourly at the counter with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"And I said that it was just silly to do something like this. So you got onstage and sung a little diddy. Big whoop." Jenna shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee.

Hatchworth gasped with his hands over his mouth. "Grandma, that's not very nice."

Lorra took Spines proffered hand, using it to pull herself up. "No, it's ok, Hatchy. It _is_ a little silly to go through all of this. I didn't do anything that a billion people haven't done before. It wasn't worth a party. Um..." Scooching around everyone, she grabbed her favorite mug and poured some coffee. Once it was doctored to her tastes, she turned back to everyone. "I think I'm just gonna take my coffee back to my room. I've got some stuff I've gotta tinker with before we leave this afternoon." Without another word, her head down, Lorra escaped the tense atmosphere of the room.

Once again, Spine turned to the older woman, wanting to give her a piece of his mind. But, no matter what he thought of saying, this old broad would have a witty retort to it. So, puffing out a thick cloud of steam in frustration, he simply turned and left the kitchen, not catching the smug grin that peaked over the edge of her cup.

)0(

"Grandma, come on! We're gonna be late!" Lorra hollered up the stairs from next to the front door. Some of her grandmother's bags sat beside her, waiting for the driver to come around to the door and get them. The younger woman kept glancing at her watch, trying to calculate how long it would take to get there if they left right that moment. Behind her, she could hear tires crunching on the gravel driveway, then a door slamming as Maurice made his way up the steps toward her. He didn't say anything when he took the bags, but kind of shook his head when he heard her calling.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming. Christ, this place is still a flippin' maze, even after two weeks."

Lorra nodded. "Believe me, I know. Six months and I still have no idea where I'm going half the time. I'll have to mention to Mr. Walter that maybe some maps on the walls that say 'you are here' then different rooms on different floors and how to get to them would help. Anyway, come on. We got to _go_."

It was a thirty minute drive to the airport, then another hour as the plane ended up getting delayed. The took that time to talk about family away from the prying ears of the Walter Wi-Fi, the elder telling the younger to call more often. After being filled in on the details of whys and how's of the current issues within her family, Lorra agreed. By the time Jenna's flight was finally called and they started heading towards the gate, they were somewhat more amicable than before. There were many promises of texts and calls, and letting the other know when they made it home. A few hugs and kisses were exchanged, and then she was off. Lorra stayed there until her grandmother had gone through the gate and she could no longer see her. Once she was on her way back to the pickup/drop-off lane, she texted the bots and let them know that she would be out a little longer. It had been a long time since she'd gone to the zoo.

)0(

When not in rehearsal, or being hounded by his siblings, Spine liked to wander the underbellies of Walter Manor. The deepest, darkest parts of the original labs, where Peter A. Walter the first worked on the first prototypes of automatons. As he meandered through the halls, he marveled at the ingenuity of the late nineteenth century, and of that of his creator, the man he often called father. A sigh escaped him, creating a larger puff of steam than usual in the cool dampness of the old areas. Something about being down here, he could almost imagine that he could feel the cold, almost feel the roughness of the walls under his fingertips. Everywhere else in the world seemed to be there simply to remind him just how unhuman he really was. From the fans that couldn't get enough of singing robots, to being completely in tune with the entire house via the Walter Wi-Fi. Down here, he was able to escape all of that. Qwerty couldn't penetrate down this far down through floors and floors of areas that hadn't been operational in many decades. No one ever came down here, so it was his little hiding place.

And at the moment, that hiding place was not what it seemed. Spine was pulled from his thoughts by a light up ahead of him. Whatever the source of the light was, he couldn't see. But, it was a bright, pulsing blue light. It was oh so familiar, as he had been seeing it from the day his photoreceptors first came online. It looked just like Blue Matter. Racing towards the light, Spine felt his artificial breath becoming quicker. Maybe it was another robot, long hidden away like Hatchworth had been. He slid to a stop outside the door to another tunnel, having to steady himself with one hand on the ground before following. It seemed to be moving away from him.

"Wait! Come back!" He yelled, using his voice amplifiers to make sure that the glowing being could hear him. The light seemed to halt for a moment, before disappearing completely. "No, come back. I'm not going to hurt you! My name is The Spine! I'm a friend." The silver bot turned a corner, only to see...nothing, no one.

"I don't quite think you're a friend, Mr. Spine."

Spine spun on his heel. The being before him was not what he had expected. It wasn't any sort of machination. Instead, it was a woman. A blue light seemed to emanate from her very skin. Long red locks flowed freely around her shoulders, moved as if by some unseen breeze. The woman before him was familiar. "Mrs. Marborne?" He asked, confused. She was slightly taller and thinner than the grandmotherly woman he had had the distinct pleasure of sharing space with for the past two weeks. Her normally crystalline blue eyes glowed, and her skin showed only minor age lines around her eyes. "What are you doing down here? I thought you had a flight to catch. Lorra said you were on the plane."

A fiendish smirk came across her face. Suddenly, Spine felt himself flying through the air, landing hard against a metal column. "It doesn't take much to fool my granddaughter. She's not as strong in the gift as my mother or I am. She is much more easily deceived than she believes she is. Not surprising, seeing as you crazy people were able to wrangle her into staying at this horrid place."

All at once, like a final cog slotting into place, Spine's mind began to crank as he attempted to stand. " _You're_ the Blue Witch? The one that helped Pappy-"

"Of course, I'm not, you idiot." The woman spat. "Do you really think that I would have done any such thing as that?! No. My mother was foolish to help that maniac. My poor Lorra thinks you're all so wonderful. She doesn't see just how wrong she really is." With a snarl, she shook her head. Then, in the blink of a human eyes, she was right in front of him, nose to nose. "You know, she seems to think you crave humanity, Mr. Spine. Is that true?" Not knowing how to respond, he simply stood there glaring at her. "Ah, interesting. Well, in that case," one hand came up, blue energy swirling around her palm and between her fingers. "Let me give it to you!" In a flash, her hand was on his chest. A surge of pure energy jolted through him, forcing him against the pillar again. Now cackling, Jenna Marborne spat coldly at him. "This may sting a little. But, I'm sure you can take it, can't you, big boy. And the best part about all of this, you won't even remember a thing! Except maybe the pain." She laughed and laughed, so loud that it almost drowned out the rising screams that ripped from the automatons vocal cords.

)0(

 _ **A/N: There it is yall, the newest chapter. I had to keep it short because I have to work tomorrow, but I will get part two up ASAP, probably tomorrow night since I've been on a roll. Anyway lovelies, enjoy, let me know what you think.**_

 _ **AcaciaDawn105**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five~ To Err...**_

 _ **A/N: Yeah, so I left yall on a cliffhanger. So sorry for that, but it was 1:30 am and I was redonkulously tired. Here's part two.**_

)0(

By the time Lorra walked through the doors of Walter Manor, it was already getting dark. The San Diego zoo had kept her occupied for the better part of the day, and when she had gone through every exhibit, she had gone downtown for the thrift shops. Say what you will about second-hand clothes, but the majority of her wardrobe was things she found at thrift stores or yard sales for reasonable prices. Why it was so expensive to dress oneself, she would never understand. Hell, there were people that got paid to take _off_ their clothes. Anyway, great prices, pretty good selections, and a happy Lorra. She managed to wrestle the several bags of clothing she had found through the doors on her own, nearly getting bowled over by Rabbit the second she did.

"L-l-lorraaaa!" The she-bot ran down the hall and skidded to a stop right past her. "Lorra-loo!"

"I'm right here, Bitty. What it is?"

"I can't find Th-th-the Spine!"

Lorra put her bags down and put her hands out to quiet the shouting robot. "Rabbit, inside voice, please." Once Rabbit realized how loud she was being, she put her hands over her mouth and went mute. "Thank you. Now, have you checked the Hall of Wires?" Rabbit nodded, hands still over her mouth. "What about the library?"

"Yes," she said around her fingers. "And the T.V. room, and the Tower of Tacos, Room of last Resorts, Pete's lab, the attic, the basement, everywhere! And Qwerty can't find him on the Walter Wi-Fi, either. He's just gone!" By now, she was gesturing to the rest of the house wildly.

"Alright, alright, chillax, Bitty. I'll find him." Lorra handed her the bags and shooed her away. "Here, take these to my room and just put them on the bed. Where was the last time Qwerty saw him?"

"Headed towards the lower levels. But after that, nothing."

"Ok, that's good. I can work with that. Go on. I got this."

Once Rabbit was out of the way, Lorra started down towards the basement. One of the few things that she knew about the Walter Manor was that it went a lot further than anyone really knew. Sure, Pete's lab was pretty far down, but the OG Peter A. Walter had made deep underbellies to house the secret projects he didn't want anyone trying to steal from him. She also knew that Spine liked to disappear down there when he thought no one was looking. It was his little sanctuary. So, she began the long trek down many flights of stairs. The elevator only went so far, but Lorra liked walking. It was peaceful. She watched as the scenery changed around her, from the plush living of the current residents, to metal walls that showed more and more rust the farther down you went, to darker iron fixings that bubbled and boiled and spat steam at random times. Calling out to her silver friend, the human carefully made her way around pipes and columns. After some time, she thought she heard something. It sounded like screaming...tortured screaming. Lorra set off at a run, calling his name and thinking the worst was happening to Spine as she rounded a corner. From down the hall, a bright blue light shown into the hall from a doorway.

"SPINE!" She yelled, running towards the light. Suddenly, before she was able to get near it, the light puffed out, and the screaming stopped, followed closely by a loud clank. Lorra had to use the doorframe to turn into the room and keep her from sliding past it. "Spine! Where are you?" She kept running. The hall was longer than she had thought it was. A flash of silver caught her eye. Lorra skidded to a stop beside the crumpled figure of Spine. Despite the previous horrendous sounds that had come from her friend, at this moment, he was completely still. Not a peep was uttered from his titanium form as she crept closer. "Spine?"

When he didn't respond to her voice, she hesitated. Should she go get someone? Lorra had never had to deal with anything like this. Spine never just _collapsed_. Then again, she had also never been down here. For all she knew, he had been exposed to some kind of catastrophic accident involving Blue Matter. If that was the case, then the Walter Workers should be down here, not her. While she fought with herself, Lorra's body unconsciously continued moving forward, lowering into a crouch. If it weren't for the fact that this was one of her dearest friends, she very well may have run back up to the nearest level that Qwerty was able to reach and call someone. But, knowing that something was wrong, she couldn't just leave him.

A quiet moan drew her from her thoughts. The sliver figure stirred against the wall. "Spine? Are you ok?" Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out to touch his shoulder. Just as her hand came into contact with the material of his shirt, another pained scream pierced the air and he threw her hand off. His own hands came up and began clawing at his metallic skin. Metal screeched as pieces began to come off from his yanking. "Spine! _Spine!_ Stop, it's ok, you're ok. I'm right here!" Lorra tried to calm him, to little avail. "Spine, sweetheart, I need you to chill." Grabbing for his hands, she attempted to pull them away and hold them against her chest to stop him from pulling away anymore of his faceplate. In response, he tried to follow his hands and ended up smashing his titanium forehead against the tender human bridge of her nose. The impact caused her to reel back, cross-eyed and bleeding from a possible broken nose. " _Ffffuuuug!"_ The curse came out odd because of the blood welling in her nostrils. "Comb on, bud-dy. Les get you ub sta-irs." She managed to get out.

But hauling all 3,500 pounds of metal up and through the halls proved more difficult than she thought it would, especially because they had to keep stopping because he would suddenly go limp and drop to the floor. The steps were the worst, because if he fell just the wrong way, Spine would pull them back down the stairs, once by more than an entire floor. After nearly an hour, she had managed to drag the nearly catatonic bot far enough up that she could get Qwerty to send the elevator and deliver them to her floor. It was a split second decision to just take him right to her room and drop him on her bed, considering that she could not hold onto him much longer to be able to get him all the way to the Hall of Wires and get him all hooked up while in this state. There was just too much space between here and there, and Lorra didn't want the other bots to see their leader like this. Let alone see her with blood drying on her face and shirt. Once within about a dozen yards of her door, she called out, "Qwerty, find Mr. Walter and tell him to meet me in my room."

"Yoooou got it!" Said the green smiley face before disappearing into the ceiling.

The last few steps to her door were the longest Lorra had ever taken. At this point, Spine was basically riding piggy-back, if not for the fact that he was way too tall and his feet were dragging on the floor. Every once in a while, he'd take a step or two, then collapse all over again. Lorra was literally pouring blood, sweat, and tears at this point. It was agony. Every breath came out more and more labored, her legs shook under the immense strain like her body had never experienced. With the amount of oxygen her body was being deprived of because of the odd hunched poster she had taken, her vision was starting to blur. The door was right there. A few more steps. _There_!

She almost cried with relief when the door was easily pushed open. Thank god for scatterbrained robots. But then, she did start crying when she saw the multitude of bags she had less than two hours ago struggled to get in the house. After what had just transpired, Lorra had completely forgotten about her lovely outing this afternoon. Three and a half steps into the room, then down she went, Spine tumbling along on top of her. All the breath whooshed out of her body as the bot crushed her to the floor. Several spots on her back were being dug into by parts that stuck out from Spine's body. With difficulty, Lorra drew in a large breath, situated her arms so that she had her hands against the floor, then pushed. It hurt, and a strained growl made its way past her lips. Turning slightly, she managed to let Spine fall onto the floor and get out from under him. Just as she was standing up, she heard a voice from the doorway.

"What in the good golly is goin' on here?" Peter said, hands on his hips. When Lorra turned to face him, he reeled back at the sight of her face and shirt covered in partially dried blood. "What the-"

"Mr. Walter! Thank god! I found Spine down in the old labs. He was screaming and there was this blue light. I followed them, but by the time I got there, the light was gone and he was passed out. He hasn't been awake more than a moment at a time since I found him."

She could see the tension in his shoulders as he pulled a tool kit out of his pocket and moved forward. "How long?"

"Almost two hours." Lorra pushed the bags off the bed and motioned for him to help her move the bot to the mattress. With matching grunts, they managed to lift him far enough off the ground and set him down. "You don't think that maybe he found one of your great-grandfather's experiments down there, do you?" She asked, standing back out of the way.

Peter was silent for a moment as he looked over the still unconscious bot. Whatever the device in his hand was, it started beeping rapidly. A small hammer appeared in his hand and he went about tapping in various places. "I don't think so. The Spine has certainly been exposed to a massive amount of Blue Matter, but it's completely pure. Not like the jury-rigged kind Pappy used. This is...very queer. I can't find anything really wrong with him, but-" He was cut off by Spine's hand shooting up and grabbing him by the lapel of his shirt. Another scream ripped through the room, making Lorra have to cover her ears lest they end up bleeding. Spine's bright green eyes stared up at the ceiling as he screamed. "Some assistance, if you please, Miss Marborne," Peter said patting the silver hand, not seeming bothered at all. Lorra surged forward, taking hold of the other silver appendage that was blindly grasping at the air with one hand, and putting the other on his forehead in a mixed attempt to calm him and keep him from hitting her again. Almost immediately, he calmed. His voice quieted to a whimper, and his eyes closed at the contact. "So," Peter quirked his head at her. "You wanna tell me what happened to your face?"

She spared him a small glance, then looked back to the robot. "Spine head-butted me. I'm ok."

"Right...that's why you've got two black eyes and blood all over yourself."

"Yup, exactly why. I'm fine, Mr. Walter. Right now, we need to find out what the hell happened down there so we can fix him. I'm not sure- _ow!_ " Lorra yanked her hand away from the metal that had suddenly risen in temperature. Steam began pouring from every orifice on the bot and his body started convulsing. The two of them back away in horror as the bot thrashed on the bed, no sound escaping him. "Peter!" She pointed at the titanium spine that was somehow retreated into his back. The movement of the six large pieces of metal caused the bot to arch in what could only be described as pain.

"Oh, jeez," he breathed.

With the rising heat from the robot, Lorra could see her bedsheets were smoking, and the acrid scent of burning thread made her eyes water. However, it wasn't just her sheets. The beautifully tailored outfit that Spine was wearing flared in small bits at a time and fell away from his body. His luminescent eyes turned to them, reaching out in a pleading way. As they watched, eyes wide, his metal skin began to disappear, starting at his fingertips, which were stretched out towards them. At first, it was almost too small to notice, just the very edges of his fingers that turned a pale, flesh-tone. Then, it spread. White edges of nails, then all the way up to the first finger joints. As he convulsed, there was less and less sound of machinery whirring and grinding. Up his arms the skin spread, overtaking his elbows. Lorra happened to glance down and noticed that the progression was mirrored at his legs as well, which was an awkward shock when his body was more skin than metal. Once his torso was completely human-looking, the flesh spread up his neck. The last thing to change, as Spine's body went from robot to human, was his eyes. They continued to bore into the two humans backed up against the wall, until slowly, ever so slowly, the bright green light began to fade. As it did, Spine's eyes fluttered closed and he went limp with a gasp.

"Well, I'll be..." Peter said, inching forward. Beckoning Lorra to do the same, he picked up the hand that hung over the side of the bed. "Have you ever seen anything so magnificent?"

"Magnificent?!" Lorra balked. He was marveling at the completely nude human that lay where there had previously been a metal man. A moment of indecision stopped her in her tracks, until she realized that there was a very naked, still catatonic person laying in her bed, which was still a smoldering wreck, and she grabbed one of her extra blankets and threw it over him. "Mr. Walter, what the hell? What's going on?!"

Shrugging, he said, "Beats me. I ain't ever seen nothing like it. Doubt Pappy ever had either. I've heard of people puttin' themselves into robots, but never the other way around. Yo, Spine-o? Can ye hear me?" There was no response. "Welp, I don't really know what else to do. I'm not all that great with peoples. Just bots."

Lorra shook her head. "What are we gonna do?"

"You're the human," the man pointed out. When she glared at him, he put his hands up. "Just sayin'. I don't know nothing' bout all this. Listen, I'm gonna go have a little look-see down where you found him, you keep an eye on everything up here. Don't let the others see him, not until we get something figured out." With that, the key-masked man left.

A tremor startled the woman, and she looked down to see the human Spine sweating profusely and shivering as if ill. Odd mutterings passed his lips, making her lean down to put her ear to his mouth so she could try to decipher. Mostly it was incomprehensible, save for a few words here and there. Words like _fairy_ , _stop_ , and _please_. Even the words she couldn't understand, the way in which he said them pulled at her heart. Whatever had happened down in the bowels of Walter Manor had caused him a great deal of pain. "Spine?" She tried again. All that happened was that his head moved in the direction of her voice, but didn't open his eyes. He was still shivering, sweat making his hair stick to his now flesh forehead. Lorra pushed it away, then got up, only to stare around her room trying to figure out what else she could do. That was when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. The sheer amount of blood that was dried on her skin and clothing was astounding. "Damn, you sure did a number on me, didn't you, bud?" She muttered to herself. It didn't take her long to gather up some things to get cleaned up, since there was a bathroom connected to her room, but there was also the fact that there was an unconscious person in her bed who may or may not wake up at any time. With a moment of deliberation, and a final look at Spine, she finally decided.

Lorra hurried to her bedroom door and hung her hand-made 'do not disturb' sign on the handle, then locked it behind her. She considered closing her bathroom door completely, in case Spine did wake up, so he couldn't just barge in there while she was getting clean, but decided against it, and left if cracked open instead. Usually, she had music playing while she showered, but didn't this time so she could hear the man in the next room in case he had another fit or finally woke up. Luckily, the water heated up quickly, so she didn't have to worry about taking a cold shower. Once she had peeled herself out of the sweaty and bloodstained clothes, Lorra hopped into the shower, quickly scrubbing as much of the blood as she could with a washcloth and soap. The area around her nose was extremely tender, understandably, so she had to take it easy trying to clean it. She made fast work of her hair to get some of the ick out of it from hauling the robot up so many flights of stairs. Periodically, she would poke her head out of the shower to listen for any possible movement in her room. In no time at all, the water was shut off and she was stepping out with a towel around her. It didn't take very long for her to run the cloth over her body, collecting as much as possible, then pulling her nightclothes on. Nightclothes really just meaning a normal green tank top and a pair of black sweatpants. Lorra took a moment to peer at herself in the bathroom mirror, checking how bad the damage was on her face. There was a strong possibility Spine had broken her nose, as there was a large lump forming along the bridge. Peter had been right; both of her eyes were completely black. She'd look pretty rough for a couple of days at least.

A loud _thump_ startled her out of her examination, followed by a groan. "Spine?!" She called, yanking her bathroom door open. She was greeted with the sight of lots of exposed skin in a tangled heap on the floor next to her bed. "Spine? Are you alright?" Another groan answered her. Unable to stop herself, she started laughing. Although seeing her friend in so much pain and suffering was in no way, shape, or form humorous, the whole situation they were currently in was so completely crazy that she couldn't do much else. "It's ok, hun," Lorra grabbed him under his arms and hauled him up onto the bed in a sitting position. He was so much lighter than before that she nearly threw him onto the bed. After having to mostly carry his metal form, as a human, it was much easier. Luckily, the blanket had mostly stayed in place around his lower torso. "Spine? Spine, look at me." She commanded.

It took some doing, but he was finally able to force his head up to look at his friend. "L...Lo-rra?" He mumbled.

"Hey, buddy. Yeah, it's me. How ya feeling?"

He closed his eyes again, scrunching up his face. "I don't feel right. Something's broken in my mechanics." The words came out somewhat slurred, and he swayed in his spot, making her have to hold him up by his shoulders.

"I know. I know it feels weird right now, and I don't really know how to explain why. But, I promise, you're gonna be ok."

Everything was off, like he was sitting on a ship that wouldn't stop moving. It made his circuits feel like they were about to fry. He didn't really know how to explain it, but he knew it was wrong. "Lorra, what's going on? Why is my head feel fuzzy?" Spine managed to force his eyes open again, and finally got a good look at his friend's face. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"You headbutted me earlier. I found you down in the lower labs. Something happened, I don't know what, but it had to have been pretty bad. I was trying to find you because Rabbit couldn't, and I heard you screaming. There was this... _really_ bright blue light, and I followed it. You were unconscious when I found you. When I tried to wake you up, you freaked out and hit me. I'm ok. Pete's down in the labs right now, trying to figure out what you found."

"Oh, no," he muttered. "I did that?" His head was starting to clear, and he reached out to touch her face. Maybe to make sure it was real, or to bring her closer so he could check it, he didn't know. Lorra smiled at him through the dark bruises under her eyes that definitely meant that something was broken. When he touched her, something was different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was just...off. Then he saw it. His eyes drifted from her nose to his hand, and stopped. Instead of the usual silver he was accustomed to, he saw pale pink skin. Releasing her face, he brought the appendage closer to his, examining it closely, thinking that maybe it was just a reflection from her skin. But it wasn't. No matter how far away he got from her, no matter which way he turned it, it stayed the same. There were no reflections from the room around him, not light shining off it. There was only skin.

With a start, he jumped up from the bed, suddenly realizing that he could feel the mattress under his body, the floor under his feet and the air on his body. Spine looked down at himself, completely shocked to see that the change was the same all the way down his form. Then, whether it was the complete overload of new sensations, or the sudden change of his position, he started tilting.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lorra caught him as he tipped forward, the fact that he was so much taller than him forcing her to bend backwards in an awkward position before she managed to force herself forward again and help him back onto the bed. He didn't lay back down, though she did try to make him.

"Lorra, what happened?" He demanded, managing to calm himself some.

"I just told you. I don't know. I found you down in the tunnels, you were the same as usual. Besides the fact that you were unresponsive, obviously. I managed to get you back up here and got Peter to come look at you. Then, you just...changed. Right in front of us. Spine," she made him look up from the fascination of his arms. "I literally _watched_ you go from robot to human." Lorra stopped for a moment, letting the comment sink in. "I watched it, and it was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen. You were screaming and tossing and reaching out for us, and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even touch you, because your metal skin was literally burning. Look at the state of my bed, your clothes. They are completely ruined." She pointed to what was left of his clothing and her sheets. "I don't know how or why it happened, but you are...human, I guess."

)0(

 _ **A/N: I know, I know, it's been really fucking long. I am so sorry. There's been so much going on in the last year that I kinda just flopped on my writing. I've been working on this chapter a little at a time since the last one I put up. I promise, I will get more up soon, including on my other stories. Miss you guys so much.**_

 _ **AcaciaDawn**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six-...Is Human**_

Peter had eventually made his way back from the labs, with only the news that there was nothing but residue from the pure Blue Matter that had changed Spine. He had asked the former robot if he knew, but the Spine apparently only remembered going down to the labs, but not what happened once he was there. Luckily, Peter had also brought some clothes for him, as Lorra had nothing that would fit the extremely tall now-human. Peter had left the two of them with only the orders to keep Spine in her room until he could come get them in the morning for some tests, but to make sure he was comfortable. Once the Walter heir was gone, Spine just sat on the bed, staring at the material in his lap.

"You have to go get dressed, Spine. I can't have you hanging around in here naked. That might have been alright when you were metal, but it won't fly now. You got some junk that needs covering up." She told him candidly.

It was absolutely amazing to see the color of his new skin completely change from the normal color to a rosy pink on his cheeks and bright red up on his ears. "I've..." He hesitated, then cleared his throat and continued. "I've never really worn anything besides what I always wear. I'm not like Rabbit. I never changed outfits. Usually my clothes are just...there."

Lorra's head hung back, staring at the ceiling as she let out a frustrated groan. "I don't get paid enough for this. Remind me to ask Mr. Walter for a raise tomorrow." She told him sarcastically. "Look, I am gonna help as much as possible, but I'm not going anywhere near _this_ area, right here," Lorra swung her hand in a circle, vaguely pointing out his groin. "At the very least, you can put the underwear on yourself, after that, I can help." Turning around, she continued. "Just put one leg in after the other. Make sure the tag is in the back and slip them up all the way." There was some shuffling, clothes falling, and many muttered curses as she tried not to laugh again.

"I think I got it."

Turning around, Lorra got a real eyeful. Not to say that she saw anything indecent (despite the fact that, technically, she already had), because Pete had been kind enough to supply him with a pair of boxers, so nothing actually showed. But, the sight of a mostly naked man in front of her was a bit shocking non-the-less. He wasn't unattractive as a human, but the change was definitely odd. He was still tall and well built ( _ **haha, puns**_ ), but it was so different to see him like that.

Apparently, she had been standing there, staring, for so long that he had grinned. "What?"

"Huh?" It shook her out of her not-at-all-subtle checking him out. "Nothing, it's nothing. It's just...weird. Almost like I'm in a really vivid dream." Picking up the plaid sleep pants Peter had picked out, she bent to help him get them on. Spine had to put one hand on her shoulder and the other on the wall beside him to keep from falling over again. Peter was a little wider than him around the waist, so Lorra had to tighten the drawstrings on the pants quite a bit to hold them up. As she grabbed the t-shirt and held it open for him, she said, "If it weren't for the fact that my face is still throbbing, I would think it was." With a gentle tug, she pulled the shirt down over his arms, head, and into place down his chest and abdomen. Even without his normal fancy shoes on, he was still so much taller than her that she was only eye-level with his chest.

"Are you sure you're ok? It looks pretty bad." He leaned down some so he could get a closer look.

"I'll be alright. I'm sure it looks worse than it is." Noticing the way his legs were shaking, Lorra pulled his arm over her shoulder and led him to her work station and sat him down in the chair. "You aren't used to actually having muscles. It might take you a while to get used to it." She moved away to pull the remains of cloth off her bed and get more sheets on it. "There's no telling how long you might be like this, but it might be long enough for you to have to get used to being human. That means eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and being way more careful than you're used to having to be. We aren't as durable as robots. Hitting us with a bass like Hatchy did to you a while back would more than likely break a rib, maybe even puncture a lung. Get caught under something, and we wouldn't be able to just lift it off like you could." With one last swipe of her hand over the sheets to smooth them out, she turned back to see him watching her with furrowed brows. "What's up?"

It took him a moment to respond. It was like he was contemplating everything she had just said much seriously than she had meant it. "I could die." He said finally.

His words hit her like a ton of bricks. "Well...yeah." Lorra pulled a stool up to sit down next to him. "I guess, when you put it like that, being human doesn't sound so great, does it?"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just...I think that may have had something to do with what happened to me..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure...I think...no, it's nothing."

Not altogether convinced, Lorra watched him for a moment. "Ok. Well, if you think of something, you know you can tell me. Anyway, let's get you to bed. After everything that just happened, I'm sure you are exhausted."

"I don't know. I feel...like I need to close my eyes. They feel heavy." His statement was finished off with a yawn.

"Yep, you are tired, my friend. Welcome to your first night of being human. You need sleep, just like the rest of us. Come on, you can sleep in my bed for tonight. I'm sure Pete with come up with something by tomorrow morning."

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"Uh, I'll be alright. I'll just make a pallet on the floor. Wouldn't be the first time. Now, we both need sleep, so, come on. Let's get you to bed."

He let her slip her arm around his waist again and help him fall back onto the bed. It was almost silly how she dutifully tucked him in like a child, kissed him on the forehead and bade him goodnight.

Sleep did not come easy to Lorra that night. Something about the whole situation was way off. Something about the look in Spine's eye when he had started talking about what had happened put her off. It wasn't right. Whatever had really happened down in those tunnels, it was just the beginning of something huge. She could feel it.

)0(

 _ **A/N: Super short chapter, but I needed to get this one out before I finished up for the night. I will definitely be continuing this story, along with many of the others on my profile, so don't worry. I will not leave you hanging like that again, my dears.**_

 _ **Much loves**_

 _ **AcaciaDawn**_


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